First of all, I have to say that Kayla and Cordelia are incredible women. Not only are they so supportive of this project, but they have plunged in head first and taken on these roles with a new energy that is delightful to watch. Their interpretations of the text are unlike anything that I are or the rest of the ladies could ever think of and it's wonderful to work off of them and see how things shift for the newer and deeper level.
Second of all, everything we thought we were doing for APAP has shifted. Don't worry, we're still doing it, but we're going to approach it a little differently than before. Instead of doing a full length production like we were planning (over ninety minutes in length), we've decided it will be more practical and beneficial to develop a twenty minute "trailer" to showcase at APAP. This way we can showcase the "trailer" many times during the time we have the venue and give people many opportunities to come and see us (rather than a limit of ONLY three shows). We made this decision because we wanted to maximize in numerous areas. For one, we wanted to make sure all of the highlights in our show were seen (Harpy, Goddesses, Storm scene - all of the physicality, etc). We also wanted to ensure that people could come and see the show at a time that is convenient for them and in a way that is enjoyable. I'm not saying that ninety plus minutes of Shakespeare won't be enjoyable, but because there are so many other showcases to be seen during APAP, we decided it's better that people come and see us for 20 minutes rather than no one coming to see us because we offer an overwhelming ninety minutes.
We have launched another Kickstarter and appreciate any donations that anyone can spare to help pay for our Presenters Booth (area designated for networking with potential touring companies) and our Off Broadway venue on 43rd Street.
Click here to check out our Kickstarter page, find out more about us and find out how you can help us get to APAP!
In other news, we're also looking to raise money with a Christmas party set in the 1920s at the Hotel Chelsea! Yes, it's cocktails, live entertainment and Hotel Chelsea history at the tips of your fingers for the low cover charge of $10. So if you're looking for fun on December 3rd - stop by the Hotel Chelsea between 9:30pm and 12:30am. Guaranteed - you won't regret it. ;)
That's where we stand and sway from side to side and physicalize the storm... we're very busy rehearsing.
Until next time, which should be sooner rather than later,
TTL
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Plan
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to send out an update on our company and our process! We're pleased to announce that we will be attending the APAP festival here in NYC this coming January (the 7th to the 11th, 2011). This festival is a wonderful opportunity to network with casting directors and producers and is the best next step for our Tempest. We will be welcoming two new members into our company as two of our founding members have, peaceably, decided to step aside and pursue other projects. We, of course, wish them the very best. :) In the meantime, we've welcomed Syracuse University Drama alumna, Kayla Levitt, into our fold and continue to search for our sixth member with, thankfully, two potential candidates in sight. We are excited to get our new cast members plugged in and up to speed with the piece. We're also looking forward to seeing how the piece shifts with two new talents in place! We think it will grow and expand in the best possible way.
We are looking at a lot to accomplish between now and January. We have, gratefully, secured preliminary funding this week from our supporter and producer, Scott Griffin. His generosity continues to both astound and bless us.
We need to become members of APAP, book a new venue and get in touch with as many people as possible. What is so great about our show is just how transportable it is. It can literally be packed into a few suitcases - just a few hats and a canvas thrown in - and be flown anywhere. (We did travel to Edinburgh and back with it, after all). It's also a really wonderful way to introduce people to Shakespeare. Because it's physically based and visually clear, people who are unfamiliar with the text will have no problem following and enjoying the piece. We think it makes for a fantastic night at the theater for all audiences, too. This includes kids, families and adults of all ages. We're very excited to market our show as an easy and inexpensive piece to pick up and tour.
We are also very busy working on our photo advertising with James Bareham. He and Murray have been so helpful in helping us translate our piece to fit this new and experimental medium. We had a rehearsal on Wednesday in which James used his iphone to capture our movement and what he did on just his iphone was spectacular! We can't wait for you to see the finished product that will go up on our new website - so definitely stay tuned!
All in all we are doing well and thriving in the Big Apple. City life is fast paced and we certainly stay busy, but that's the way we like it.
Wishing you the best as the holiday season approaches - and we'll be in further touch soon!
TTLs
Just wanted to send out an update on our company and our process! We're pleased to announce that we will be attending the APAP festival here in NYC this coming January (the 7th to the 11th, 2011). This festival is a wonderful opportunity to network with casting directors and producers and is the best next step for our Tempest. We will be welcoming two new members into our company as two of our founding members have, peaceably, decided to step aside and pursue other projects. We, of course, wish them the very best. :) In the meantime, we've welcomed Syracuse University Drama alumna, Kayla Levitt, into our fold and continue to search for our sixth member with, thankfully, two potential candidates in sight. We are excited to get our new cast members plugged in and up to speed with the piece. We're also looking forward to seeing how the piece shifts with two new talents in place! We think it will grow and expand in the best possible way.
We are looking at a lot to accomplish between now and January. We have, gratefully, secured preliminary funding this week from our supporter and producer, Scott Griffin. His generosity continues to both astound and bless us.
We need to become members of APAP, book a new venue and get in touch with as many people as possible. What is so great about our show is just how transportable it is. It can literally be packed into a few suitcases - just a few hats and a canvas thrown in - and be flown anywhere. (We did travel to Edinburgh and back with it, after all). It's also a really wonderful way to introduce people to Shakespeare. Because it's physically based and visually clear, people who are unfamiliar with the text will have no problem following and enjoying the piece. We think it makes for a fantastic night at the theater for all audiences, too. This includes kids, families and adults of all ages. We're very excited to market our show as an easy and inexpensive piece to pick up and tour.
We are also very busy working on our photo advertising with James Bareham. He and Murray have been so helpful in helping us translate our piece to fit this new and experimental medium. We had a rehearsal on Wednesday in which James used his iphone to capture our movement and what he did on just his iphone was spectacular! We can't wait for you to see the finished product that will go up on our new website - so definitely stay tuned!
All in all we are doing well and thriving in the Big Apple. City life is fast paced and we certainly stay busy, but that's the way we like it.
Wishing you the best as the holiday season approaches - and we'll be in further touch soon!
TTLs
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Up Next
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for reading and following us from Syracuse to Edinburgh to our New York Debut and now to our post-NYC Debut - we can't believe we've gotten as far was we have. Everything about this piece seems to snowball and grow into a new phase of the project that was, initially, completely unforeseen. It makes for many pleasant surprises.
Up next we're looking at starting a project with esteemed photographer, James Bareham. He is working on developing a sort of moving photography that moves a still without allowing it becoming a film. I can't do it justice by explaining it here and I also don't want to spoil the surprise! ...So I will leave the visual to speak for itself when it's completed.
We're also looking to legitimize our company by legally reserving the name "The Tempest Ladies." Holly has been a gem in researching this and I may ask her to make a guest appearance on the blog to explain this process in more detail since I, again, can't do it justice... am I good for anything? Well, at least I keep you in the loop. And you're very important to us! ;)
Once the name is legally reserved, we can open our theatre company's bank account! This is a very big step and will allow each of us equal access to the company's funds. We have a very egalitarian system.
As always, thanks for reading.
With Love,
TTL
Thanks for reading and following us from Syracuse to Edinburgh to our New York Debut and now to our post-NYC Debut - we can't believe we've gotten as far was we have. Everything about this piece seems to snowball and grow into a new phase of the project that was, initially, completely unforeseen. It makes for many pleasant surprises.
Up next we're looking at starting a project with esteemed photographer, James Bareham. He is working on developing a sort of moving photography that moves a still without allowing it becoming a film. I can't do it justice by explaining it here and I also don't want to spoil the surprise! ...So I will leave the visual to speak for itself when it's completed.
We're also looking to legitimize our company by legally reserving the name "The Tempest Ladies." Holly has been a gem in researching this and I may ask her to make a guest appearance on the blog to explain this process in more detail since I, again, can't do it justice... am I good for anything? Well, at least I keep you in the loop. And you're very important to us! ;)
Once the name is legally reserved, we can open our theatre company's bank account! This is a very big step and will allow each of us equal access to the company's funds. We have a very egalitarian system.
As always, thanks for reading.
With Love,
TTL
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Now We Want Spirits to Enforce, Art to Enchant
A HUGE thank you to all of our friends, family and supporters. You made this past weekend worthwhile! We feel so grateful to say we've had such a successful and thrilling debut in NYC. It would never have been made possible without your love and enthusiasm for our work. Thank you for thinking of us and encouraging us to take our piece to the next realm.
We look forward to what is up next for us - that is, of course, to be determined in a cast meeting coming up this Thursday night. We will definitely keep you posted!
Thanks for reading, following and, well, being as wonderful as you are.
With Love,
The Tempest Ladies xoxoxo
We look forward to what is up next for us - that is, of course, to be determined in a cast meeting coming up this Thursday night. We will definitely keep you posted!
Thanks for reading, following and, well, being as wonderful as you are.
With Love,
The Tempest Ladies xoxoxo
Thursday, September 23, 2010
What's Past is Prologue
Hi Everyone,
We've arrived to NYC opening day and are excited and ready to roll. We can't wait to see your smiling and supportive faces sprinkled throughout our audiences this weekend. You have all been so kind and encouraging. We couldn't ask for a better base of people to build on.
We've had a busy week. We had a line through on Sunday where we literally said all of the lines of the show from start to finish out loud. We were grateful to find the words were still there and spent a lot of the line through using different voices and dialects and rapping and singing our way through the text. When we got to the goddess scene, we sounded like a party of ghouls bemoaning a deathday. It was a lot of fun and very entertaining.
On Monday, we got into the space on 43rd street and tried the muslin canvas out. We've gone from a 'full screen' space in Syracuse to a 'wide screen' space in Edinburgh and now we're working with a 'mini camcorder' space in NYC. But we've adjusted and the show is filling the space nicely. We also did a sort of delirious run on Monday night in which we marked through the show physically, hitting all of our physical cues within the space and playing any instruments we might play when we're not in the scene. The inner monologue of this experience went something like this: "Okay, lights up. And sway, sway, sway. Storm. Fall. Up. Exit center. Shake the muslin. Fall out. On stage. Lines, lines, lines - exit left. Sit on side. Play instrument...NOW - exit left. Enter center. Acting, acting, acting. Exit right. Enter right. Acting, acting, acting...Harpy." This proved to be useful as, like with the text, we were reassured to find the show was still very much present in us physically.
Tuesday night came and we did a stumble through of the show with a full run. Energy was a tad wonky, but important discoveries were made. One of those being that because we'd had a month between Edinburgh and NYC, our choices had been allowed to percolate and sink in deeper. There was a greater trust in the show and our characters and we found we are now able to play and improvise within them, which is really delightful and a lot of fun.
Wednesday we had a solid run of the show. It's running at the time in needs to and we've figured out the space. Any technical issues were sorted out - especially thanks for Holly's brother, Will, who adjusted and ran lighting through the show.
Today is Thursday - the day we open. We're thrilled to say we're sold out for tonight with limited seating available tomorrow. We're sold out on Saturday and have small groups of seats available for Sunday and Monday. If you still want to come, it's not too late! Email tempestladies@yahoo.com.
Looking forward to seeing so many of you this weekend.
All the best,
The Tempest Ladies xoxo
We've arrived to NYC opening day and are excited and ready to roll. We can't wait to see your smiling and supportive faces sprinkled throughout our audiences this weekend. You have all been so kind and encouraging. We couldn't ask for a better base of people to build on.
We've had a busy week. We had a line through on Sunday where we literally said all of the lines of the show from start to finish out loud. We were grateful to find the words were still there and spent a lot of the line through using different voices and dialects and rapping and singing our way through the text. When we got to the goddess scene, we sounded like a party of ghouls bemoaning a deathday. It was a lot of fun and very entertaining.
On Monday, we got into the space on 43rd street and tried the muslin canvas out. We've gone from a 'full screen' space in Syracuse to a 'wide screen' space in Edinburgh and now we're working with a 'mini camcorder' space in NYC. But we've adjusted and the show is filling the space nicely. We also did a sort of delirious run on Monday night in which we marked through the show physically, hitting all of our physical cues within the space and playing any instruments we might play when we're not in the scene. The inner monologue of this experience went something like this: "Okay, lights up. And sway, sway, sway. Storm. Fall. Up. Exit center. Shake the muslin. Fall out. On stage. Lines, lines, lines - exit left. Sit on side. Play instrument...NOW - exit left. Enter center. Acting, acting, acting. Exit right. Enter right. Acting, acting, acting...Harpy." This proved to be useful as, like with the text, we were reassured to find the show was still very much present in us physically.
Tuesday night came and we did a stumble through of the show with a full run. Energy was a tad wonky, but important discoveries were made. One of those being that because we'd had a month between Edinburgh and NYC, our choices had been allowed to percolate and sink in deeper. There was a greater trust in the show and our characters and we found we are now able to play and improvise within them, which is really delightful and a lot of fun.
Wednesday we had a solid run of the show. It's running at the time in needs to and we've figured out the space. Any technical issues were sorted out - especially thanks for Holly's brother, Will, who adjusted and ran lighting through the show.
Today is Thursday - the day we open. We're thrilled to say we're sold out for tonight with limited seating available tomorrow. We're sold out on Saturday and have small groups of seats available for Sunday and Monday. If you still want to come, it's not too late! Email tempestladies@yahoo.com.
Looking forward to seeing so many of you this weekend.
All the best,
The Tempest Ladies xoxo
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Aknowledgment and Praise
Thanks Jana for all of your wonderful updates! (Isn’t she doing a tremendous job keeping you all informed?) It has just crossed my mind that there is someone who also deserves praise and acknowledgment for all of their hard work on the project. As you look on our site you see our new promotional picture. That picture was designed by my 14(!) year old brother Will!
While we were in Edinburgh we wanted to get a jump start on advertising for our NYC debut. I contact Will via Starbucks wifi and told him everything we needed and he came up with this amazing design! He also designed the back for our postcard mailing making sure we had all of the necessary information but also kept to postcard regulations!
As if he wasn’t already wonderful, he has offered to fix our lighting for us on Monday and operate our board during the show. So clearly, my brother is superman. If you want to check him out here is his website: wsh5.com or follow him on twitter: WSH5.
Thought you all needed to know how amazing my brother is!!!
All for now,
Holly (for the Tempest Ladies) xoxoxo
While we were in Edinburgh we wanted to get a jump start on advertising for our NYC debut. I contact Will via Starbucks wifi and told him everything we needed and he came up with this amazing design! He also designed the back for our postcard mailing making sure we had all of the necessary information but also kept to postcard regulations!
As if he wasn’t already wonderful, he has offered to fix our lighting for us on Monday and operate our board during the show. So clearly, my brother is superman. If you want to check him out here is his website: wsh5.com or follow him on twitter: WSH5.
Thought you all needed to know how amazing my brother is!!!
All for now,
Holly (for the Tempest Ladies) xoxoxo
Monday, September 13, 2010
10 days!
We have ten more days until we open in NYC for our Off-Off Broadway debut! We are more than a little excited!
We spent yesterday evening at an alumni cocktail party, welcoming new SU Drama Department Chair, Ralph Zito. Ralph is a wonderful man and the department is very lucky to have him. The girls and I are a little jealous that we're missing out on him as head of the department. However, we were fortunate enough to have Ralph in our opening night audience in Edinburgh and are thrilled to be connected to him as recent alumni.
We had a meeting last night after the alumni gathering to update each other on the latest happenings from each of our ends.
Holly was pleased to report that Ann Clarke, the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, is giving us the box office earnings made during our time at The Fringe. This is more than generous. We are so grateful, blessed and inspired by Ann and her continuously giving spirit.
Laura and I, having talked with Lisa Nicholas, an SU alum and the Tepper Semester coordinator, were inspired to make follow up calls with the industry. This meaning that we will each take some of the contacts we have sent mass emails/mass mailings to and give them a follow up call so that they can hear our voices and know that we are really interested in having their eyes - or their assistant's eyes - at the show.
The seats are filling up FAST, which is really encouraging. We have Friday and Saturday nights sold out and the other days are at least half full - if not over half full! We're so pleased to find we will have strong audiences!
We also made a schedule for the time between now and when we open that will go something along the lines of:
A line through on Sunday, September 19th. Get into the space on September 20th to tech with lighting and the muslin piece of canvas we use as a back drop. We will rehearse 7-11pm on Monday and 7-11pm on Tuesday. Wednesday we will do one final run from 6-8pm before we open the show on Thursday, September 23rd. :) Lots to do...!!
That's the latest. Thanks for reading and hope all is well with you!
Jana for the Tempest Ladies xx
We spent yesterday evening at an alumni cocktail party, welcoming new SU Drama Department Chair, Ralph Zito. Ralph is a wonderful man and the department is very lucky to have him. The girls and I are a little jealous that we're missing out on him as head of the department. However, we were fortunate enough to have Ralph in our opening night audience in Edinburgh and are thrilled to be connected to him as recent alumni.
We had a meeting last night after the alumni gathering to update each other on the latest happenings from each of our ends.
Holly was pleased to report that Ann Clarke, the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, is giving us the box office earnings made during our time at The Fringe. This is more than generous. We are so grateful, blessed and inspired by Ann and her continuously giving spirit.
Laura and I, having talked with Lisa Nicholas, an SU alum and the Tepper Semester coordinator, were inspired to make follow up calls with the industry. This meaning that we will each take some of the contacts we have sent mass emails/mass mailings to and give them a follow up call so that they can hear our voices and know that we are really interested in having their eyes - or their assistant's eyes - at the show.
The seats are filling up FAST, which is really encouraging. We have Friday and Saturday nights sold out and the other days are at least half full - if not over half full! We're so pleased to find we will have strong audiences!
We also made a schedule for the time between now and when we open that will go something along the lines of:
A line through on Sunday, September 19th. Get into the space on September 20th to tech with lighting and the muslin piece of canvas we use as a back drop. We will rehearse 7-11pm on Monday and 7-11pm on Tuesday. Wednesday we will do one final run from 6-8pm before we open the show on Thursday, September 23rd. :) Lots to do...!!
That's the latest. Thanks for reading and hope all is well with you!
Jana for the Tempest Ladies xx
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
16 days!
Hey Everyone,
We have sixteen days till we open our show in NYC. So much preparation has already begun. I'm sure many of you have received invite emails and reminder emails. If you didn't get an email, you probably got a postcard informing you when the show is, where it is, the time and the cost (no charge). If you didn't get an email or a postcard and would like one, please email: tempestladies@yahoo.com!!
We've already sold over half of the seats for the run and have a sold out Saturday night (September 25th), which is really exciting.
We're looking forward to debuting in NYC with a piece fresh from Edinburgh and ready to roll again. One thing that made saying goodbye to Edinburgh a little easier was knowing we would get to do the show again in NYC. And here it is - smashing back into our lives! We've not a moment to spare!
The Tempest Ladies have moved to NYC. Many of us have secured an apartment and are getting settled into our new homes. This is a big step and big accomplishment for each us. It will be nice to have a stationary place to go to and from while we're moving about the city/country/world.
We're hoping to squeeze in a line-through (go through the text as everyone says their lines out loud) as a way of preparing, refreshing and discovering that the work is still there before we take the show into the new space and do some run throughs. Really exciting.
In the meantime, reserve your tickets if you haven't already! Email: tempestladies@yahoo.com or call (608) 575-8296. Hope to see you at the show!
Love,
The TLs
We have sixteen days till we open our show in NYC. So much preparation has already begun. I'm sure many of you have received invite emails and reminder emails. If you didn't get an email, you probably got a postcard informing you when the show is, where it is, the time and the cost (no charge). If you didn't get an email or a postcard and would like one, please email: tempestladies@yahoo.com!!
We've already sold over half of the seats for the run and have a sold out Saturday night (September 25th), which is really exciting.
We're looking forward to debuting in NYC with a piece fresh from Edinburgh and ready to roll again. One thing that made saying goodbye to Edinburgh a little easier was knowing we would get to do the show again in NYC. And here it is - smashing back into our lives! We've not a moment to spare!
The Tempest Ladies have moved to NYC. Many of us have secured an apartment and are getting settled into our new homes. This is a big step and big accomplishment for each us. It will be nice to have a stationary place to go to and from while we're moving about the city/country/world.
We're hoping to squeeze in a line-through (go through the text as everyone says their lines out loud) as a way of preparing, refreshing and discovering that the work is still there before we take the show into the new space and do some run throughs. Really exciting.
In the meantime, reserve your tickets if you haven't already! Email: tempestladies@yahoo.com or call (608) 575-8296. Hope to see you at the show!
Love,
The TLs
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Updates Regarding NYC Debut!
This September, The Tempest Ladies bring the show that changed their world to yours.
(If you say that in a low voice, it sounds like a really bad start to a movie preview).
We are so excited to be back in the states and to be preparing for our Off-Off Broadway debut in NYC!
We perform at:
Roy Arias Studios & Theaters
300 W 43rd St, Ste 506
New York, NY
On September 23, 24, 25 and 27 at 8:00pm
and September 26 at 2:30pm
Reservations are encouraged and can be made by emailing us at: tempestladies@yahoo.com
or by calling our lovely ensemble member, Laura Borgwardt, at: (608) 575-8296.
Thanks so much for your support thus far and we hope to see you at the show in NYC!
(If you say that in a low voice, it sounds like a really bad start to a movie preview).
We are so excited to be back in the states and to be preparing for our Off-Off Broadway debut in NYC!
We perform at:
Roy Arias Studios & Theaters
300 W 43rd St, Ste 506
New York, NY
On September 23, 24, 25 and 27 at 8:00pm
and September 26 at 2:30pm
Reservations are encouraged and can be made by emailing us at: tempestladies@yahoo.com
or by calling our lovely ensemble member, Laura Borgwardt, at: (608) 575-8296.
Thanks so much for your support thus far and we hope to see you at the show in NYC!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Let Your Indulgence Set Me Free
Hello, hello!
The end of our Fringe run has already come! Hard to believe it after so much anticipation and preparation. Rather than being sad, however, we find ourselves at peace knowing we have another run of the show to look forward to in NYC and knowing that a brief and much-needed vacation awaits each of us (in more of Edinburgh, London and Spain).
We had a great week. Met some really great people. We always had more than the "average Fringe audience" (4-7 people) at the show, so that was encouraging.
How would we describe our time here? How would we describe it accurately and with the relish and magic it deserves...
The mile was teeming with people yesterday - a sea of people if you can imagine. There was human traffic that almost stopped at times. We perched ourselves atop a cement traffic guard and handed fliers out like crazy. It was the best day we had for busking by far - so many people we hadn't met or seen before and not enough fliers! We had a good time. We scared a little boy at one point. He saw how tall we were on the cement perch and that made him nervous, but not for long as we smiled at him and got him to smile back.
We also did some touristy things amid all of the theatre going and theatre performing madness. We went to Edinburgh castle, climbed up Arthur's Seat, went on a witch hunt, and sampled whiskey. Not a bad gig, this. ;)
I realize this blog post does not even begin to do this city justice.
This is the place where people from all over gather to create pieces for which their passion cannot be greater and their need to share them cannot be stronger. This is the place where Peter Pan takes Wendy on a new adventure with the Lost Boys. Where A Rabbit can befriend Stars. Where a man can live in a taxi. Where the Portuguese have the best rhythm out of anyone. Where people can write and perform their truth. Where six girls can put on hats, become men, and play through a text so sumptuous that you will wonder why you, yourself, shouldn't become an actor and have such a good time.
I hope this gives you a small taste. And I hope we can share all of our stories with you upon returning home and that they will fill in all the gaps I leave here.
I will take a short hiatus between Edinburgh and NYC. I promise to keep you updated on the NYC preparations as they unfold.
With Love - Speak soon!
The Tempest Ladies x
The end of our Fringe run has already come! Hard to believe it after so much anticipation and preparation. Rather than being sad, however, we find ourselves at peace knowing we have another run of the show to look forward to in NYC and knowing that a brief and much-needed vacation awaits each of us (in more of Edinburgh, London and Spain).
We had a great week. Met some really great people. We always had more than the "average Fringe audience" (4-7 people) at the show, so that was encouraging.
How would we describe our time here? How would we describe it accurately and with the relish and magic it deserves...
The mile was teeming with people yesterday - a sea of people if you can imagine. There was human traffic that almost stopped at times. We perched ourselves atop a cement traffic guard and handed fliers out like crazy. It was the best day we had for busking by far - so many people we hadn't met or seen before and not enough fliers! We had a good time. We scared a little boy at one point. He saw how tall we were on the cement perch and that made him nervous, but not for long as we smiled at him and got him to smile back.
We also did some touristy things amid all of the theatre going and theatre performing madness. We went to Edinburgh castle, climbed up Arthur's Seat, went on a witch hunt, and sampled whiskey. Not a bad gig, this. ;)
I realize this blog post does not even begin to do this city justice.
This is the place where people from all over gather to create pieces for which their passion cannot be greater and their need to share them cannot be stronger. This is the place where Peter Pan takes Wendy on a new adventure with the Lost Boys. Where A Rabbit can befriend Stars. Where a man can live in a taxi. Where the Portuguese have the best rhythm out of anyone. Where people can write and perform their truth. Where six girls can put on hats, become men, and play through a text so sumptuous that you will wonder why you, yourself, shouldn't become an actor and have such a good time.
I hope this gives you a small taste. And I hope we can share all of our stories with you upon returning home and that they will fill in all the gaps I leave here.
I will take a short hiatus between Edinburgh and NYC. I promise to keep you updated on the NYC preparations as they unfold.
With Love - Speak soon!
The Tempest Ladies x
Friday, August 13, 2010
With Brevity
I will make this brief. We are already four performances in to our six performance run. We can't believe we've already made it this far. We had a smaller house last night and they were pretty quiet, but we also had a really good run. We've come to realize that we have been given a tremendous gift in working on a show for this long. We have been sitting with this script for over a year. We have gone through two rehearsal processes. We have found layers, dug deeper and discovered more. And now we find that we are here in a place with this piece that is solid, level, strong. We know it and we play within it. And it is, consistently, exactly what it needs to be.
We've gotten great responses to the physicality of the piece. We can't do the harpy without getting huge smiles of intrigue from our audience. We can't do the drunk scene without getting a booming laugh from the audience's belly. This is very reassuring that our work is both understood and appreciated.
We had a time of it busking yesterday. We have been going to busk at the same time every day and find we tell the same people about the show... every. day. It also didn't help that it was pelting rain yesterday, putting most of the buskers and tourists in a less than cheerful mood. We decided we should try busking together again and closer to when our show actually goes on. So we'll be busking in a group, costume-clad and beating drums, on the royal mile this afternoon in hopes of meeting some new people and stirring up some new interest.
It will be nice to have the usual busking time off to see shows and do get our energy up for later busking and our show. So much fun.
That's about that. Hope you're all well. Thanks for following and reading.
Speak soon.
The Tempest Ladies via Jana x
We've gotten great responses to the physicality of the piece. We can't do the harpy without getting huge smiles of intrigue from our audience. We can't do the drunk scene without getting a booming laugh from the audience's belly. This is very reassuring that our work is both understood and appreciated.
We had a time of it busking yesterday. We have been going to busk at the same time every day and find we tell the same people about the show... every. day. It also didn't help that it was pelting rain yesterday, putting most of the buskers and tourists in a less than cheerful mood. We decided we should try busking together again and closer to when our show actually goes on. So we'll be busking in a group, costume-clad and beating drums, on the royal mile this afternoon in hopes of meeting some new people and stirring up some new interest.
It will be nice to have the usual busking time off to see shows and do get our energy up for later busking and our show. So much fun.
That's about that. Hope you're all well. Thanks for following and reading.
Speak soon.
The Tempest Ladies via Jana x
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day Seven of the Fringe (already!)
Hard to believe we are already at the mid point of our journey as Edinburgh Fringe performers. We've seen some lovely pieces - including children's shows, paper puppetry, newly written works and stand up comedy. (?) We've had good audiences (always more than four people, which is the Edinburgh Fringe average). The first two nights we had close to full houses. Last night was a smaller audience, consisting of about fifteen, but they were one of our more lively crowds, which made it a great deal of fun.
Three performances down and three to go. We're getting to be very familiar with the city, having walked it twenty times over a day. We have found our favorite cafes. Made new connections and friends. We've really been able to accomplish everything we wanted to do here.
We had some reviewers in our audience. The first review was raving and sent all of us into blessed tears. We're waiting on another one from a reviewer who came last night. He graciously sat in the front row, had hats tossed onto him, and laughed generously. We got to speak with him after the show and got the sense that he, too, liked it very much.
The challenge has been busking. You can't go up the royal mile without receiving twenty fliers for twenty different shows. People are pulling out new tactics now. Not only are they dressing up, staging tableaus, and calling out lines from their show, but they're offering free tickets and dishing out raving review quotes. It's hard to say no to a free show with a raving review.
We spent our first day busking in regular attire, approaching the strangely clad, engaging them about their show and then letting them in on ours. This seemed like a good preliminary tactic, but it didn't last more than that first day. The second day we went out in our costumes and had our hats and instruments from the show. this gave people a curiosity about us. Tourists were taking photographs of us as we played a tune for every flier passed out.
The even harder part comes when you feel like you've given everyone in Edinburgh a flier. By about day three, people were much less-inclined to take any piece of paper that crossed their path. We found by making good eye contact and really pressing that this show is 'all-women and all-Shakespeare,' really helped us out of the 'no flier, thanks' rut.
We've also tried busking in other places. We busk on our way to and from the royal mile. We give the cashiers at the cafes our fliers when they ask us if we've seen anything good. We pass out fliers over pints after the show. Yesterday Holly and Chelsea went to the Pleasance Courtyard to pass out fliers for a change of scenery and, hopefully, a change in the usual people we reach.
This is a very dry run-down of the Fringe goings on. We've got a ton more stories and no time to type them! Guess you'll just have to wait till we get back for the juicy details!
With Love,
The TLs
Three performances down and three to go. We're getting to be very familiar with the city, having walked it twenty times over a day. We have found our favorite cafes. Made new connections and friends. We've really been able to accomplish everything we wanted to do here.
We had some reviewers in our audience. The first review was raving and sent all of us into blessed tears. We're waiting on another one from a reviewer who came last night. He graciously sat in the front row, had hats tossed onto him, and laughed generously. We got to speak with him after the show and got the sense that he, too, liked it very much.
The challenge has been busking. You can't go up the royal mile without receiving twenty fliers for twenty different shows. People are pulling out new tactics now. Not only are they dressing up, staging tableaus, and calling out lines from their show, but they're offering free tickets and dishing out raving review quotes. It's hard to say no to a free show with a raving review.
We spent our first day busking in regular attire, approaching the strangely clad, engaging them about their show and then letting them in on ours. This seemed like a good preliminary tactic, but it didn't last more than that first day. The second day we went out in our costumes and had our hats and instruments from the show. this gave people a curiosity about us. Tourists were taking photographs of us as we played a tune for every flier passed out.
The even harder part comes when you feel like you've given everyone in Edinburgh a flier. By about day three, people were much less-inclined to take any piece of paper that crossed their path. We found by making good eye contact and really pressing that this show is 'all-women and all-Shakespeare,' really helped us out of the 'no flier, thanks' rut.
We've also tried busking in other places. We busk on our way to and from the royal mile. We give the cashiers at the cafes our fliers when they ask us if we've seen anything good. We pass out fliers over pints after the show. Yesterday Holly and Chelsea went to the Pleasance Courtyard to pass out fliers for a change of scenery and, hopefully, a change in the usual people we reach.
This is a very dry run-down of the Fringe goings on. We've got a ton more stories and no time to type them! Guess you'll just have to wait till we get back for the juicy details!
With Love,
The TLs
Monday, August 9, 2010
Hiya
Hiya (that's Scottish for 'Hello'),
We're settled into Edinburgh and have seen a variety of sights in the past view days ranging from a man in a chicken suit, to women dressed as courtesans. We've seen people making balloon animals on every corner. We've seen the woman with the most piercings. Ever. We've seen actors making glaring statements with their eyes in the streets so you'll ask them about their show. We've seen people standing on cement blocks. We've seen people covered in 'blood.' We've seen men dressed as Queen Elizabeth. We've met the Disney Princesses. A man with Dementia. A woman painted blue like a smurf. And we've met some really anxious people shoving fliers into our faces. We've also met some pretty nice, down to earth people as well. :) This is busking it would seem. Interacting with other artists and Edinburgh tourists in hopes that they will take an interest in seeing our show. We've found it works to take an interest in someone else's show and then encourage them to come and see ours. We also find people don't always know The Tempest, but they know Shakespeare and they know women and they like the two of them separately...so they'll probably like them together.
"If you like eating peanut butter out of a jar, you'll love Cafe Arret," said a busker to me as I ate my lunch. Yes, you would eat peanut butter out of a jar, too, if you brought it from the states and it keeps well and saves you money. But this was another tactic we liked regarding busking. We've decided to approach people and say things like, "If you like drinking tea, you'll love the Tempest." Another attention-getter.
As far as adventures go, we've seen good theater and bad theater. We've gotten lost on the Royal Mile. Climbed Arthur's Seat. Drank Tea. Eaten Shortbread. We've had dinner in a pub. We've drank our pints. We've bought phones (parents you can expect calls from us now). We've gotten our bearings.
The venue is GREAT. Perfect size. We teched last night and that went pretty well. We've figured out the changes needed in regards to technicalities. I.E. The space is wider than the one we rehearsed in and allows for a smaller amount of "backstage" space, so that took some adjusting. We did a rather slow, low-energy run, which is to be expected after all the traveling we've been doing. We all went to bed early last night and tried to get some rest. I think we'll be ready to open tonight after we busk and busk and busk!
A couple more girls are feeling under the weather (prayers and good vibes please). I think they will be fine, but it sucks to be sick and it sucks to have a show going on while you're sick. They probably won't busk with us, but will (of course) rest up.
That's the gist...my time is running out.
Love always,
The TLs
We're settled into Edinburgh and have seen a variety of sights in the past view days ranging from a man in a chicken suit, to women dressed as courtesans. We've seen people making balloon animals on every corner. We've seen the woman with the most piercings. Ever. We've seen actors making glaring statements with their eyes in the streets so you'll ask them about their show. We've seen people standing on cement blocks. We've seen people covered in 'blood.' We've seen men dressed as Queen Elizabeth. We've met the Disney Princesses. A man with Dementia. A woman painted blue like a smurf. And we've met some really anxious people shoving fliers into our faces. We've also met some pretty nice, down to earth people as well. :) This is busking it would seem. Interacting with other artists and Edinburgh tourists in hopes that they will take an interest in seeing our show. We've found it works to take an interest in someone else's show and then encourage them to come and see ours. We also find people don't always know The Tempest, but they know Shakespeare and they know women and they like the two of them separately...so they'll probably like them together.
"If you like eating peanut butter out of a jar, you'll love Cafe Arret," said a busker to me as I ate my lunch. Yes, you would eat peanut butter out of a jar, too, if you brought it from the states and it keeps well and saves you money. But this was another tactic we liked regarding busking. We've decided to approach people and say things like, "If you like drinking tea, you'll love the Tempest." Another attention-getter.
As far as adventures go, we've seen good theater and bad theater. We've gotten lost on the Royal Mile. Climbed Arthur's Seat. Drank Tea. Eaten Shortbread. We've had dinner in a pub. We've drank our pints. We've bought phones (parents you can expect calls from us now). We've gotten our bearings.
The venue is GREAT. Perfect size. We teched last night and that went pretty well. We've figured out the changes needed in regards to technicalities. I.E. The space is wider than the one we rehearsed in and allows for a smaller amount of "backstage" space, so that took some adjusting. We did a rather slow, low-energy run, which is to be expected after all the traveling we've been doing. We all went to bed early last night and tried to get some rest. I think we'll be ready to open tonight after we busk and busk and busk!
A couple more girls are feeling under the weather (prayers and good vibes please). I think they will be fine, but it sucks to be sick and it sucks to have a show going on while you're sick. They probably won't busk with us, but will (of course) rest up.
That's the gist...my time is running out.
Love always,
The TLs
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Made it!
Hey All!
Thanks for your patience! So sorry I didn't update the day we left...I spent the day in the emergency room because my tonsils were swollen and my ears felt clogged. When the Dr. flushed out my left ear, the water went right through it and out my nose! So I had a perforated ear drum just in time for traveling! Thankfully, I was given antibiotics, pain meds (including narcotics...I slept well on the place) and ear drops and will be good as new or good as can be in terms of performing.
We got through the traveling phase with what I would describe as "grace." It's not easy traveling for 21 hours in a group, but we slept (or tried) and ate (or tried to) on the place and got through lay overs by sleeping at eating.
Getting into the city yesterday was magical. It felt like we were embracing an old friend. We had all been here for a short period (a day) two years ago while studying abroad. It feels good to settle into the University housing we're using. It's a small apartment with kitchen and living room. We each have our own bedroom and actually took time yesterday to unpack and get settled. It will actually feel like we're all living in Edinburgh for ten days.
We ate at a pub last night and had our pints. So British and so perfect. Some of us went to a show called Dealer's Choice. An hour-long comedy. Fun. We enjoyed it. The people in the show were out busking (convincing people to see their show) when we were on our way to dinner at the pub and they had us play Texas Hold 'em with them. If we won the game, we got a card from a deck and the card entitled us to a 'buy one get one free' ticket for the performance that night. We had enough of us win that we could each buy and ticket and get another ticket free and split the cost so the show was cheap for all of us who went and we had a good time.
I'm running out of time. We are going to meet the press today and pick up our Fringe participation badges. So much to do and so little time. Can't stand to be in front of a computer for most of it. We all bought phones with international minutes, so be looking for a call from your daughters, parents!
With Love,
The TLs
Thanks for your patience! So sorry I didn't update the day we left...I spent the day in the emergency room because my tonsils were swollen and my ears felt clogged. When the Dr. flushed out my left ear, the water went right through it and out my nose! So I had a perforated ear drum just in time for traveling! Thankfully, I was given antibiotics, pain meds (including narcotics...I slept well on the place) and ear drops and will be good as new or good as can be in terms of performing.
We got through the traveling phase with what I would describe as "grace." It's not easy traveling for 21 hours in a group, but we slept (or tried) and ate (or tried to) on the place and got through lay overs by sleeping at eating.
Getting into the city yesterday was magical. It felt like we were embracing an old friend. We had all been here for a short period (a day) two years ago while studying abroad. It feels good to settle into the University housing we're using. It's a small apartment with kitchen and living room. We each have our own bedroom and actually took time yesterday to unpack and get settled. It will actually feel like we're all living in Edinburgh for ten days.
We ate at a pub last night and had our pints. So British and so perfect. Some of us went to a show called Dealer's Choice. An hour-long comedy. Fun. We enjoyed it. The people in the show were out busking (convincing people to see their show) when we were on our way to dinner at the pub and they had us play Texas Hold 'em with them. If we won the game, we got a card from a deck and the card entitled us to a 'buy one get one free' ticket for the performance that night. We had enough of us win that we could each buy and ticket and get another ticket free and split the cost so the show was cheap for all of us who went and we had a good time.
I'm running out of time. We are going to meet the press today and pick up our Fringe participation badges. So much to do and so little time. Can't stand to be in front of a computer for most of it. We all bought phones with international minutes, so be looking for a call from your daughters, parents!
With Love,
The TLs
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Stop the Presses!
Check out this article about our project:
http://vpa.syr.edu/news/drama-alumnae-tempest-ladies-take-production-fringe-festival
In the airport waiting to board our first of three flights!
xoxo
Holly for The Tempest Ladies
http://vpa.syr.edu/news/drama-alumnae-tempest-ladies-take-production-fringe-festival
In the airport waiting to board our first of three flights!
xoxo
Holly for The Tempest Ladies
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Double Run Rehearsal
Hello! We are narrowing the gap between now and Edinburgh! We have a rehearsal today that will take us into a "packing party" tonight and leave us ready for our flight out of Syracuse tomorrow evening! Ah-haha! We are doing it! ...Can you tell that we're excited?
Yesterday was another great rehearsal. We keep tweaking and tweaking to make a better show. We came in and re-worked the Goddess. We still haven't found a way to make the transition into the Goddess smooth due to fabric hindrances. The fabric doesn't want to stay on the Goddess...so we're going to find a way to button/sew it on and that way the transition will be smooth and quick. After messing with the Goddesses, we found the characters' 'zeros' beginning with the fools and working all the way up to Prospero. We now have physical similarities between each of us that should link the characters from actor to actor as we change parts.
After solidifying physical consistency, we ran the show and had a few people watching. Among those in the audience were Tim Davis-Reed, our Fringe faculty advisor, Leslie Noble, an SU Drama faculty member who saw the original production, and, Tim Bond, the Syracuse Stage Artistic Director. We were so grateful that they were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to come and see the piece. They were very supportive of the work and said it had found a deeper place, which was exactly what we had hoped for in remounting the project. Leslie left us with some food for thought, which I think will only allow the piece to unfold more.
It's finally starting to hit us that we are going to Edinburgh. We're sending packages home that we don't want to lug through Europe. We're doing laundry and getting the props and costumes we need ready for transport. We have to find a way to get all of our props, costumes and intruments into our own suitcases...that will be an adventure tonight.
Our itinerary is to fly out tomorrow night at 6:30pm. We land in Philadelphia about 7:30pm and have a small layover before flying to London at 9:55pm. We reach London at 10am on Friday morning. We then have another layover before we fly out of London to Edinburgh. We will reach Edinburgh around 4pm local time. ...And then we perform and see theater in Edinburgh Scotland and have the time of our lives - We're really excited!
Today we have rehearsal in which we will repair Goddess fabric and get it to stick together, we work with Ariel fabric transitioning into the Harpy and then we will do a run. We will then take a break and do another evening run between 6 and 8pm, the timeblock in which we will be performing in Edinburgh. This is to get used to performing at that hour as well as to get used to setting up and breaking down the set on either end of the show and within our reserved two hour timeblock.
That is that. Should be able to update tomorrow!
Love and hugs,
The TLs
Yesterday was another great rehearsal. We keep tweaking and tweaking to make a better show. We came in and re-worked the Goddess. We still haven't found a way to make the transition into the Goddess smooth due to fabric hindrances. The fabric doesn't want to stay on the Goddess...so we're going to find a way to button/sew it on and that way the transition will be smooth and quick. After messing with the Goddesses, we found the characters' 'zeros' beginning with the fools and working all the way up to Prospero. We now have physical similarities between each of us that should link the characters from actor to actor as we change parts.
After solidifying physical consistency, we ran the show and had a few people watching. Among those in the audience were Tim Davis-Reed, our Fringe faculty advisor, Leslie Noble, an SU Drama faculty member who saw the original production, and, Tim Bond, the Syracuse Stage Artistic Director. We were so grateful that they were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to come and see the piece. They were very supportive of the work and said it had found a deeper place, which was exactly what we had hoped for in remounting the project. Leslie left us with some food for thought, which I think will only allow the piece to unfold more.
It's finally starting to hit us that we are going to Edinburgh. We're sending packages home that we don't want to lug through Europe. We're doing laundry and getting the props and costumes we need ready for transport. We have to find a way to get all of our props, costumes and intruments into our own suitcases...that will be an adventure tonight.
Our itinerary is to fly out tomorrow night at 6:30pm. We land in Philadelphia about 7:30pm and have a small layover before flying to London at 9:55pm. We reach London at 10am on Friday morning. We then have another layover before we fly out of London to Edinburgh. We will reach Edinburgh around 4pm local time. ...And then we perform and see theater in Edinburgh Scotland and have the time of our lives - We're really excited!
Today we have rehearsal in which we will repair Goddess fabric and get it to stick together, we work with Ariel fabric transitioning into the Harpy and then we will do a run. We will then take a break and do another evening run between 6 and 8pm, the timeblock in which we will be performing in Edinburgh. This is to get used to performing at that hour as well as to get used to setting up and breaking down the set on either end of the show and within our reserved two hour timeblock.
That is that. Should be able to update tomorrow!
Love and hugs,
The TLs
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Opening in less than a week...
Hello!
We realized before we ran the show last night that we open in LESS THAN A WEEK! Whew!
We had a good rehearsal yesterday. We worked on scenes that needed more attention. Particularly the fools scenes, Act III.ii and the end of Act IV. They're looking and feeling a lot better.
We ran the show last night and had three people watching - one of whom was video taping! We are debating whether or not to watch the footage before we leave for Edinburgh. Part of us wants to see how it is looking visually but the other part doesn't want to be distracted by how we look, etc...so that we can just go with what we know and have and trust. We'll see.
Felix, our advisor, saw it last night and had some good feedback for us - focusing in on physical detail. We decided we need to revert to something we found in the original production and that is to find a physical "zero" for each of our characters. This means we find the way in which a character always goes back to standing/sitting physically. Whether he leans a certain way, tightens a certain muscle or twitches, we each need to know the physical zero of the character so that the audience will see the zero occurring through each actor playing him from scene to scene and know it's the same character.
The show felt stable last night. We have been encouraged to trust in the work we've done. Something helpful that was shared with us is that we all play "real" very well and need to trust the work we've done in "realism" and now let that work expand, grow, breathe and catapult so that our energy hooks the audience from the get-go. We need to go for broke, essentially.
I think what's most reassuring is that we can do this because we are doing this and we have done this. All that's left is transferring this to Edinburgh, which is sure to bring a new energy unlike any we've ever experienced.
With Love,
The TLs
We realized before we ran the show last night that we open in LESS THAN A WEEK! Whew!
We had a good rehearsal yesterday. We worked on scenes that needed more attention. Particularly the fools scenes, Act III.ii and the end of Act IV. They're looking and feeling a lot better.
We ran the show last night and had three people watching - one of whom was video taping! We are debating whether or not to watch the footage before we leave for Edinburgh. Part of us wants to see how it is looking visually but the other part doesn't want to be distracted by how we look, etc...so that we can just go with what we know and have and trust. We'll see.
Felix, our advisor, saw it last night and had some good feedback for us - focusing in on physical detail. We decided we need to revert to something we found in the original production and that is to find a physical "zero" for each of our characters. This means we find the way in which a character always goes back to standing/sitting physically. Whether he leans a certain way, tightens a certain muscle or twitches, we each need to know the physical zero of the character so that the audience will see the zero occurring through each actor playing him from scene to scene and know it's the same character.
The show felt stable last night. We have been encouraged to trust in the work we've done. Something helpful that was shared with us is that we all play "real" very well and need to trust the work we've done in "realism" and now let that work expand, grow, breathe and catapult so that our energy hooks the audience from the get-go. We need to go for broke, essentially.
I think what's most reassuring is that we can do this because we are doing this and we have done this. All that's left is transferring this to Edinburgh, which is sure to bring a new energy unlike any we've ever experienced.
With Love,
The TLs
Monday, August 2, 2010
Three Days!
We're down to the dwindling numbers now! THREE LEFT! What a relief! What a surprise! I suppose we knew this day would always come...but that it has actually come is another thing. We found out nearly a year ago that we would, in fact, be going to Edinburgh. To describe this feat to people when the project was so far in the distant future felt strange...like describing a dream that seemed "so real." And yet, here we are about to leave. Here we are - GOING! There is some victory in that. It's like we have made it to the top of a hill we never thought we would get to climb. We are surrounded by blessings.
Today we're looking at the breakdown and set up of the set. We have ten minutes to get into the theater and set up the show. We then have an hour and a half to perform the show, assuming we start on time, and ten minutes to break the set down and get out so that the next act can get in and set up. We're going to divide tasks and time the set up and break down to make sure we can get in and out of the space in ten minutes. After we cover the breakdown bases, we're also going to work any scenes that feel wonky or need polishing.
After a good, long lunch break, we'll reconvene at 6pm to run the show again. Our faculty member and Broadway sensation, David Lowenstein, has graciously agreed to come and support us by watching the run through. We're grateful to have him.
This is short and sweet with candy and love,
The Tempest Ladies x
Today we're looking at the breakdown and set up of the set. We have ten minutes to get into the theater and set up the show. We then have an hour and a half to perform the show, assuming we start on time, and ten minutes to break the set down and get out so that the next act can get in and set up. We're going to divide tasks and time the set up and break down to make sure we can get in and out of the space in ten minutes. After we cover the breakdown bases, we're also going to work any scenes that feel wonky or need polishing.
After a good, long lunch break, we'll reconvene at 6pm to run the show again. Our faculty member and Broadway sensation, David Lowenstein, has graciously agreed to come and support us by watching the run through. We're grateful to have him.
This is short and sweet with candy and love,
The Tempest Ladies x
Sunday, August 1, 2010
The Calm Before The Storm...
Sitting in a quiet coffee house, I, Sarah, not Jana, feel an overwhelming sense of calm. Is this the result of having two days off in a row? Perhaps. Is it the result of sleeping for more than 7 hours the past 2 nights? Maybe... Or is it because an artist will always ultimately find peace with what they've created, and rests\ easy knowing that they've done good..? I vote for that one. ;-)
The six of us ladies have been living with this project for over a year now, and while it has grown and changed, failed and succeeded, it still remains the passionate piece of theater that we all initially came together to create. We've pushed ourselves in every sense; as actors, directors, ensemble members, producers, costumers, prop managers, set designers, script editors, PR agents, everything. We've created something to be proud of. We've done good.
Every artist comes to a point in their work where they can choose one of many options. They can abandon their art, deeming it hopeless and unworthy of their efforts. They can continue to challenge said art, searching for deeper meaning and forcing it to be better than it already is. They can put it to rest for a moment, knowing full well they will be returning to it when "inspiration" hits. Or they can step back, admire what they've created, and give it away to the world, allowing it to impact and affect all who come into contact with it. The best part of performance art..? There's one more option: To step back, admire what you've created, and while trusting that it's strong and solid, allow yourself to experience your own art. You can actually actively contribute to the direct impact your art is having on the world. What a thought!
This is the point I believe I am personally at. I'm confident in the scaffolding we as artists have put up, and I am now ready to step back, admire it, and then actively contribute to it's impact on the world. I find peace in this.
I now leave you to watch the last half of 'Harold & Maude,' which I began yesterday, but was forced to take an intermission as my computer died. Have a great day & be sure to smile at someone! ;-)
The six of us ladies have been living with this project for over a year now, and while it has grown and changed, failed and succeeded, it still remains the passionate piece of theater that we all initially came together to create. We've pushed ourselves in every sense; as actors, directors, ensemble members, producers, costumers, prop managers, set designers, script editors, PR agents, everything. We've created something to be proud of. We've done good.
Every artist comes to a point in their work where they can choose one of many options. They can abandon their art, deeming it hopeless and unworthy of their efforts. They can continue to challenge said art, searching for deeper meaning and forcing it to be better than it already is. They can put it to rest for a moment, knowing full well they will be returning to it when "inspiration" hits. Or they can step back, admire what they've created, and give it away to the world, allowing it to impact and affect all who come into contact with it. The best part of performance art..? There's one more option: To step back, admire what you've created, and while trusting that it's strong and solid, allow yourself to experience your own art. You can actually actively contribute to the direct impact your art is having on the world. What a thought!
This is the point I believe I am personally at. I'm confident in the scaffolding we as artists have put up, and I am now ready to step back, admire it, and then actively contribute to it's impact on the world. I find peace in this.
I now leave you to watch the last half of 'Harold & Maude,' which I began yesterday, but was forced to take an intermission as my computer died. Have a great day & be sure to smile at someone! ;-)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
So much time off
Hello!
"Good morning - I mean - good afternoon - I guess it's afternoon - I - "
"What?" asked the horribly bored girl behind the desk at the gym.
"I - uh - I just thought it was morning when it was afternoon - "
"Sign in there."
Right...so we slept in till about 11:22 this morning. And we got up and we did our own thing. In my case that would be the gym for forty minutes too long and, of course, the library. What would I do with a day off besides wallow in front of a computer and try to advertise us just a little bit more? ...Well, probably sit in the park with an iced coffee and do nothing... So I will sit here with an iced coffee and type till I have carpal tunnel and then I will go sit in the park with an iced coffee and do nothing. But I repeat myself...
So! Yesterday was a WONDERFUL rehearsal. I'm so pleased to report this. We all woke up feeling remarkably rested - having been in some strange sort of all-encompassing degree of fatigue the day before - and we went into rehearsal at 11am. We made remaining props and costumes. This included but was not limited to: Sewing Caliban fur onto Caliban headbands. Cutting points into a gold, sparkly casino-going old lady's visor to make Alonso's crown. Fringe checking the fabric that makes the Goddess's headdress. And sanding down the sheet metal that is our storm thunder. Have I given everything away? You wish.
We then proceeded to go around the circle of four cast members present and we let each cast member pick something they wanted to work on. For some that was to run through a scene and cement the lines. (We know the lines but are, at times, exchanging the word "Follow" for "Come on" and the word "Island" for "Isle..." So we needed to get that straight). Others chose to work through a scene and have remaining cast members watch it. Most helpful in having an outside eye let the actor know what was clear and what what evident.
We then called it a half day. Some went to the gym. Others stayed to cement movement that is transitioning through the play and where to enter and exit around the muslin fabric - have I mentioned how big that thing is? It's HUGE.
I, myself, stayed to choreograph movement through a very early piece of dialogue I have which takes a great amount of motion and breath and leaves me sweating profusely onto the first row of audience members (warning) - I'm just kidding...but, really. :P
So here we are with a day off. We all treated ourselves to sushi dinner last night. Today, well. Gym. Gym. Gym. Blogging. Singing. Eating. Going to park? Pool? Dinner. Who knows.
I hear rumor of going to "the larger mall in America" tomorrow. It will be nice to get off of campus.
Thanks for reading.
With love always,
Jana x
"Good morning - I mean - good afternoon - I guess it's afternoon - I - "
"What?" asked the horribly bored girl behind the desk at the gym.
"I - uh - I just thought it was morning when it was afternoon - "
"Sign in there."
Right...so we slept in till about 11:22 this morning. And we got up and we did our own thing. In my case that would be the gym for forty minutes too long and, of course, the library. What would I do with a day off besides wallow in front of a computer and try to advertise us just a little bit more? ...Well, probably sit in the park with an iced coffee and do nothing... So I will sit here with an iced coffee and type till I have carpal tunnel and then I will go sit in the park with an iced coffee and do nothing. But I repeat myself...
So! Yesterday was a WONDERFUL rehearsal. I'm so pleased to report this. We all woke up feeling remarkably rested - having been in some strange sort of all-encompassing degree of fatigue the day before - and we went into rehearsal at 11am. We made remaining props and costumes. This included but was not limited to: Sewing Caliban fur onto Caliban headbands. Cutting points into a gold, sparkly casino-going old lady's visor to make Alonso's crown. Fringe checking the fabric that makes the Goddess's headdress. And sanding down the sheet metal that is our storm thunder. Have I given everything away? You wish.
We then proceeded to go around the circle of four cast members present and we let each cast member pick something they wanted to work on. For some that was to run through a scene and cement the lines. (We know the lines but are, at times, exchanging the word "Follow" for "Come on" and the word "Island" for "Isle..." So we needed to get that straight). Others chose to work through a scene and have remaining cast members watch it. Most helpful in having an outside eye let the actor know what was clear and what what evident.
We then called it a half day. Some went to the gym. Others stayed to cement movement that is transitioning through the play and where to enter and exit around the muslin fabric - have I mentioned how big that thing is? It's HUGE.
I, myself, stayed to choreograph movement through a very early piece of dialogue I have which takes a great amount of motion and breath and leaves me sweating profusely onto the first row of audience members (warning) - I'm just kidding...but, really. :P
So here we are with a day off. We all treated ourselves to sushi dinner last night. Today, well. Gym. Gym. Gym. Blogging. Singing. Eating. Going to park? Pool? Dinner. Who knows.
I hear rumor of going to "the larger mall in America" tomorrow. It will be nice to get off of campus.
Thanks for reading.
With love always,
Jana x
Friday, July 30, 2010
In Edinburgh in a week!
Hey all,
We're looking at Edinburgh in a week! We fly out next Thursday and will wake up in the city of Edinburgh next Friday! We realized this upon waking this morning and started shrieking and squealing as we lay on our air mattresses trying to stretch out our cramped bodies.
Yesterday we finished up the tightening of transitions. Then we did a speed through of the transitions - going from a cue line into a transition to the next cue line into a transition. Finally, we ran the show through for the second time. We shaved off five minutes. We need to shave off about fifteen minutes more.
One thing that we all took note of during the run was that we were watching it and trying to do it. We were working as actors with director's eyes. We realized that we've taken the time we need to direct. The stage pictures are set. The piece looks the way that it needs to. It's now time to play with each other. We know the text. It's time to play within it... that's probably the hardest part of the actor's work - a least for me. You do all the work and then you have to forget about it - let it be and just have a good time.
We're already discussing how we want to see Edinburgh castle and all the sights. Looking forward to it.
Today we're missing two members who went out of town for varying and necessary circumstances. We have a half day of rehearsal today to make remaining props and look at a couple of scenes before we take two much needed days off (Saturday and Sunday) and resume rehearsals on Monday. We have three more full rehearsals! How did this happen?
With lots of love,
Jana x
We're looking at Edinburgh in a week! We fly out next Thursday and will wake up in the city of Edinburgh next Friday! We realized this upon waking this morning and started shrieking and squealing as we lay on our air mattresses trying to stretch out our cramped bodies.
Yesterday we finished up the tightening of transitions. Then we did a speed through of the transitions - going from a cue line into a transition to the next cue line into a transition. Finally, we ran the show through for the second time. We shaved off five minutes. We need to shave off about fifteen minutes more.
One thing that we all took note of during the run was that we were watching it and trying to do it. We were working as actors with director's eyes. We realized that we've taken the time we need to direct. The stage pictures are set. The piece looks the way that it needs to. It's now time to play with each other. We know the text. It's time to play within it... that's probably the hardest part of the actor's work - a least for me. You do all the work and then you have to forget about it - let it be and just have a good time.
We're already discussing how we want to see Edinburgh castle and all the sights. Looking forward to it.
Today we're missing two members who went out of town for varying and necessary circumstances. We have a half day of rehearsal today to make remaining props and look at a couple of scenes before we take two much needed days off (Saturday and Sunday) and resume rehearsals on Monday. We have three more full rehearsals! How did this happen?
With lots of love,
Jana x
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Press Day
Hello! We're already to Thursday and leave for Edinburgh ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! What?! Sooo thrilling! :)
Yesterday we polished the storm. Polished it till there wasn't any polish left and we were essentially rubbing the piece raw. We had to leave it where it was. It's in good shape. We're just getting anxious and having trouble trusting ourselves with the time running out.
We proceeded to work through the rest of the show, speeding through wherever possible and hitting transitional points and musical complements. We found where music assists the piece - particularly underscoring and filling transitional gaps - and we found ways to transition as quickly as possible - we're hoping this will eat up some excess time that we still need to shave off the piece.
We made it through Act III.iii for transitions and music yesterday. We will pick up where we left off and finish up with Act IV and Act V before we do a speed through of transitions (working through what we just found all in a row without stopping so that there is a flow in our thinking and physicality). We will then do our second full run of the show.
We have people from "the hill," or from campus, coming down to interview us on our process and on our project this afternoon. So rehearsal once we're through our run, we will be looking at getting camera ready, answering questions, and posing for photo call. The best part is that we get to use any photos taken of us for promotional purposes and advertising. This will be especially useful when we start publicizing the New York show.
That's all I really have...Anyone have any great suggestions for what we should see/do in Edinburgh besides see incredible theater?
With Love,
Jana x
Yesterday we polished the storm. Polished it till there wasn't any polish left and we were essentially rubbing the piece raw. We had to leave it where it was. It's in good shape. We're just getting anxious and having trouble trusting ourselves with the time running out.
We proceeded to work through the rest of the show, speeding through wherever possible and hitting transitional points and musical complements. We found where music assists the piece - particularly underscoring and filling transitional gaps - and we found ways to transition as quickly as possible - we're hoping this will eat up some excess time that we still need to shave off the piece.
We made it through Act III.iii for transitions and music yesterday. We will pick up where we left off and finish up with Act IV and Act V before we do a speed through of transitions (working through what we just found all in a row without stopping so that there is a flow in our thinking and physicality). We will then do our second full run of the show.
We have people from "the hill," or from campus, coming down to interview us on our process and on our project this afternoon. So rehearsal once we're through our run, we will be looking at getting camera ready, answering questions, and posing for photo call. The best part is that we get to use any photos taken of us for promotional purposes and advertising. This will be especially useful when we start publicizing the New York show.
That's all I really have...Anyone have any great suggestions for what we should see/do in Edinburgh besides see incredible theater?
With Love,
Jana x
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Oogly Boogly
Dear Blog People,
Oogly Boogly Doogly Dah...I'm quite tired today...and quite hysterical...but that's to be expected this deep in the theatre process.
Yesterday, we spent the first half of our rehearsal making rain sticks. Yes. A very long and tedious, but necessary task. Why did we spend so much time making rain sticks out of chicken wire and rice? Well, we need them for the storm scene, of course, and we all know the storm scene needed work. So we made the music and sounds and proceeded to re-stage the storm after lunch. We kept our original opening image of a ship, made beautifully with our bodies. We then proceeded to experiment with how to make sound throughout the rest of the scene. Not an easy task as every actor is on stage during the storm and we, therefore, must carry our instruments with us throughout the scene. We came up with a rough outline which we will fill in today with fresh brains.
We also hope to work through the play - slowly, hitting each scene with the necessary transition and song work, so that when we're finished working through it we will have killed two birds with one stone. We will do this so that tomorrow (and, of course, this is subject to change) we can do another full run of the show before meeting with PR people for interviews/photos...wow, that sounds fancy...
That's about it, really. We're looking at tightening and polishing. We're looking at hydration and, hopefully, rest. We're looking at Edinburgh one week from tomorrow.
With love,
The Tempest Ladies
Oogly Boogly Doogly Dah...I'm quite tired today...and quite hysterical...but that's to be expected this deep in the theatre process.
Yesterday, we spent the first half of our rehearsal making rain sticks. Yes. A very long and tedious, but necessary task. Why did we spend so much time making rain sticks out of chicken wire and rice? Well, we need them for the storm scene, of course, and we all know the storm scene needed work. So we made the music and sounds and proceeded to re-stage the storm after lunch. We kept our original opening image of a ship, made beautifully with our bodies. We then proceeded to experiment with how to make sound throughout the rest of the scene. Not an easy task as every actor is on stage during the storm and we, therefore, must carry our instruments with us throughout the scene. We came up with a rough outline which we will fill in today with fresh brains.
We also hope to work through the play - slowly, hitting each scene with the necessary transition and song work, so that when we're finished working through it we will have killed two birds with one stone. We will do this so that tomorrow (and, of course, this is subject to change) we can do another full run of the show before meeting with PR people for interviews/photos...wow, that sounds fancy...
That's about it, really. We're looking at tightening and polishing. We're looking at hydration and, hopefully, rest. We're looking at Edinburgh one week from tomorrow.
With love,
The Tempest Ladies
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Warm o' My Troth!
Well, the sickness scare appears to be over. With A LOT of hydration, good nutrition that, admittedly, included an icecream run and some well-deserved and much-needed rest, we are feeling better.
We stumbled through the show yesterday - wow -so informative. It ran at about an hour and forty minutes. We have about fifteen more minutes left to shave, which we think will be doable with lines and transitions tightened. We clearly need a transition rehearsal. We need a lot more music. The gaps that are transitions need some sort of informative musical element to complement the last scene and lead the audience into the next scene.
I know that for me, personally, I had many an acting line for myself by the end of the run. But this is a good thing - it will give me something to focus on and aim for during the next run or work through of the scenes, which excites me and prods me to keep going.
We had Chelsea on book for the last time yesterday. We are now 'on our own' and will start to receive line notes (a piece of paper that tells us where we flubbed for lines, where we switched one word for another word in a line...etc). This is a very good and very necessary step...I'd even go so far as to say: It's about time.
Last night we brought dinner over to Olga's and had flowering tea (a tea that is a bulb that blossoms in hot water and tastes delicious while looking spectacular). She shared some stories about life in Russia. Told us how Felix was a legend there and we all agreed that if anyone was a legend, it would be Felix. She reminded us of the Stanislavsky quote: Love the art in yourself. Love yourself in the art. And she shared with us that she and Felix believe this new wave of art is that of "Stanislavsky Rock and Roll," in that it is free moving. We get together to do something and we just go - we do it. She said that's what we're doing - Rock and Roll. ...I think it's clear that we adore these two people and see them as both mentors and grandparents.
I'm also pleased to announced that: We have pants! Yes, it's been a long time coming. We're talking endless searches through NYC's Forever 21, Target's $10 bargains and finally - Old Navy! We walked in, saw the pants, tried them on, made sure they fit and bought them! Voila! Our costumes are now complete thanks to Sarah, who purchased our matching blue leotards in bulk before arriving in Syracuse.
Today, (dare I even guess what we're doing today?) well, actually today, I don't know what we're doing because we didn't decide. And it's just as well because if we decided one thing, you know we would probably do another.
And so I leave you with the mystery of what today brings. I hope it surprises you, too.
With Love, of course,
J x
We stumbled through the show yesterday - wow -so informative. It ran at about an hour and forty minutes. We have about fifteen more minutes left to shave, which we think will be doable with lines and transitions tightened. We clearly need a transition rehearsal. We need a lot more music. The gaps that are transitions need some sort of informative musical element to complement the last scene and lead the audience into the next scene.
I know that for me, personally, I had many an acting line for myself by the end of the run. But this is a good thing - it will give me something to focus on and aim for during the next run or work through of the scenes, which excites me and prods me to keep going.
We had Chelsea on book for the last time yesterday. We are now 'on our own' and will start to receive line notes (a piece of paper that tells us where we flubbed for lines, where we switched one word for another word in a line...etc). This is a very good and very necessary step...I'd even go so far as to say: It's about time.
Last night we brought dinner over to Olga's and had flowering tea (a tea that is a bulb that blossoms in hot water and tastes delicious while looking spectacular). She shared some stories about life in Russia. Told us how Felix was a legend there and we all agreed that if anyone was a legend, it would be Felix. She reminded us of the Stanislavsky quote: Love the art in yourself. Love yourself in the art. And she shared with us that she and Felix believe this new wave of art is that of "Stanislavsky Rock and Roll," in that it is free moving. We get together to do something and we just go - we do it. She said that's what we're doing - Rock and Roll. ...I think it's clear that we adore these two people and see them as both mentors and grandparents.
I'm also pleased to announced that: We have pants! Yes, it's been a long time coming. We're talking endless searches through NYC's Forever 21, Target's $10 bargains and finally - Old Navy! We walked in, saw the pants, tried them on, made sure they fit and bought them! Voila! Our costumes are now complete thanks to Sarah, who purchased our matching blue leotards in bulk before arriving in Syracuse.
Today, (dare I even guess what we're doing today?) well, actually today, I don't know what we're doing because we didn't decide. And it's just as well because if we decided one thing, you know we would probably do another.
And so I leave you with the mystery of what today brings. I hope it surprises you, too.
With Love, of course,
J x
Monday, July 26, 2010
Changes
Well, I feel like from now on I can't tell you what we're going to be doing with a day because it always changes. Yesterday we came in and poor Sarah was feeling sick with migraine symptoms. She felt quesy and was really sensitive to light. We took a quick inventory of what we still needed prop and costume-wise for the show and figured out where everything would have to be set at the top of the show and where it would move and where it would have to be for each scene...and then we called it a half day and sent everyone home. Sarah slept her sickness off for the most part and woke up feeling much better.
I must confess that I, now, am feeling quesy and as I sit here typing, I'm wondering how quickly I can wrap this up and go lie down so that I, too, can rest up and recuperate as we're supposed to do our stumble through of the show today before taking dinner of to our costumer, Olga, and going to Old Navy to by pants for our costumes. Any good vibes or prayers you have to offer for our health are much appreciated as we're really getting down to the wire and are suffering symptoms of 'overdoing it,' as my doctor dad put it. Haha...
So, there you go in a tight nutshell. Hope you're better than we are.
With Love,
The TLs.
I must confess that I, now, am feeling quesy and as I sit here typing, I'm wondering how quickly I can wrap this up and go lie down so that I, too, can rest up and recuperate as we're supposed to do our stumble through of the show today before taking dinner of to our costumer, Olga, and going to Old Navy to by pants for our costumes. Any good vibes or prayers you have to offer for our health are much appreciated as we're really getting down to the wire and are suffering symptoms of 'overdoing it,' as my doctor dad put it. Haha...
So, there you go in a tight nutshell. Hope you're better than we are.
With Love,
The TLs.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
So much Sunday
Hey All,
We're winding down with the last day of rehearsal in our week. Tomorrow we have a deserved day off before we head into the last week of polishing and head overseas!
Yesterday was a jumble. We finished up Act V and ran through it enough to put it into our bodies. We also recounted what we did with the storm in the original production, trying to put it back into our bodies. This proved to be harder than we thought it would. We were haven't trouble recalling the original physicality, having done it over a year ago... and it didn't help that we're now playing new characters through the scene...so to remember where we each were and then trying to figure out where we now should be was quite messy. We finally came up with a rough draft of what we had originally done - this was done by tracing out movement diagrams and flow charts on lined paper after reading the scene out loud over and over again and picking out key 'cue' words that dictated the movement. We now have an idea of where to move as our new characters. However, we know there is much left to explore. Ariel talks about fire in her Act I.ii speech as she recounts the storm - so we know we need some elemental devices within the storm that were neglected the first time we did the piece.
Felix came in briefly yesterday with instruments that we can use and take abroad with us. We didn't have the opportunity to work with him on actual musical phrases, but we trust that with the instruments he brought us, we'll be able to jam and find the music we need. He also took Sarah, Stella and Laura to his place after rehearsal so that they could look at fabrics with his wife and costume designer, Olga. Olga has graciously agreed to help us sew Prospero's robe together and to provide fabric for us to use in the various magical scenes/transitions. We are so grateful to them for passing on their passionate knowledge. I remember when we had tea with them last week Olga said something along the lines of, "We want to give what we know." And that's exactly what they're doing...
Today we're going to stumble through the ENTIRE bare bones of the show. We're ready. We're also exhausted. So once we take our time figuring out where everyone needs to be from one scene to another (we're talking transitions here - like where is someone when one scene ends and where do they need to be for the beginning of the next scene and how do they get there...) we'll know what's missing regarding props/costumes and we can make last minute store runs to purchase extra items and put everything into its final place. We're looking at the end. We'll be polishing and fine tuning very soon. It's all very thrilling. It's like watching a circus tent go up and realizing what's about to take place within it.
With Love,
J x
We're winding down with the last day of rehearsal in our week. Tomorrow we have a deserved day off before we head into the last week of polishing and head overseas!
Yesterday was a jumble. We finished up Act V and ran through it enough to put it into our bodies. We also recounted what we did with the storm in the original production, trying to put it back into our bodies. This proved to be harder than we thought it would. We were haven't trouble recalling the original physicality, having done it over a year ago... and it didn't help that we're now playing new characters through the scene...so to remember where we each were and then trying to figure out where we now should be was quite messy. We finally came up with a rough draft of what we had originally done - this was done by tracing out movement diagrams and flow charts on lined paper after reading the scene out loud over and over again and picking out key 'cue' words that dictated the movement. We now have an idea of where to move as our new characters. However, we know there is much left to explore. Ariel talks about fire in her Act I.ii speech as she recounts the storm - so we know we need some elemental devices within the storm that were neglected the first time we did the piece.
Felix came in briefly yesterday with instruments that we can use and take abroad with us. We didn't have the opportunity to work with him on actual musical phrases, but we trust that with the instruments he brought us, we'll be able to jam and find the music we need. He also took Sarah, Stella and Laura to his place after rehearsal so that they could look at fabrics with his wife and costume designer, Olga. Olga has graciously agreed to help us sew Prospero's robe together and to provide fabric for us to use in the various magical scenes/transitions. We are so grateful to them for passing on their passionate knowledge. I remember when we had tea with them last week Olga said something along the lines of, "We want to give what we know." And that's exactly what they're doing...
Today we're going to stumble through the ENTIRE bare bones of the show. We're ready. We're also exhausted. So once we take our time figuring out where everyone needs to be from one scene to another (we're talking transitions here - like where is someone when one scene ends and where do they need to be for the beginning of the next scene and how do they get there...) we'll know what's missing regarding props/costumes and we can make last minute store runs to purchase extra items and put everything into its final place. We're looking at the end. We'll be polishing and fine tuning very soon. It's all very thrilling. It's like watching a circus tent go up and realizing what's about to take place within it.
With Love,
J x
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Lucky Charms
Here we are again. Saturday morning. I must admit I had a hard time of it this morning. Being in a college town means many stores and shops are closed during the summer - so I debated for a long time, walking the hills of Syracuse, on where to risk trying to get a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning, finally settling on Starbucks. So here I sit with another blog to write - so exciting!
Yesterday was quite a whirlwind. We started rehearsal later to accommodate Felix. Unfortunately, Felix was caught in the torrential downpour traffic coming from NYC and couldn't make it to us in time. We proceeded to work through Act IV as a brush-up, really defining and polishing. The Goddess is looking better and better with each run, although we are, admittedly, struggling with singing and dancing at the same time. Our ensemble is comprised of only two musical theater majors, so you will understand... We went on a break and Tim Davis-Reed, our Fringe Faculty Advisor and the cinematographer of our promo video, came in to set up a camera to begin filming our "how to take a show to the Fringe" video. This video is our gift to the college and to future students interested in creating their own theater and taking it somewhere beyond Syracuse. Tim shot the rehearsal as it proceeded with another run of Act IV into Act V - the act of all acts. We spent the next hour and a half debating the final transition from Sorcerer Prospero into Man Prospero. Yes, an hour and a half. You must give us credit, though, because it is a very key transition. Quite possibly the most important transition of the show. We found it had to be a transition on the emotional level and not a quick physical trick. What we came up with is, in my opinion, very powerful. I'm Ariel during this switch and have the privilege of watching it, which gives me goosebumps.
We walked through more of Act V after another break and saying thank you to Tim. We got through...hmm...I want to say about half of the Act. We have a really cool magical element that we're using with drums... We're working to find how we can bring ALL thirteen of the characters onto the stage with only six bodies. We will pick up with Act V and finish blocking it out today.
Felix comes in at 2pm today to do music, of which we are in desperate need. We know the Goddesses need some more music, which will be a nice challenge as we're all moving and singing and dancing through the piece - so now we'll just do all of that with instruments in our hands. We also need to figure out a nice underlying theme for each of the characters. In our original production, we had a phenomenal musician, Dave Snyder, hide behind a piano and do the music for the show. Felix had helped Dave to create themes for each of the characters that were used with each entrance of that character throughout the show. We decided in bringing the project forward to the Fringe that we wanted to do the music ourselves, carrying instruments with us and having everything come from us as the actors. So, having made that decision, we're now juggling the challenge of it. We want to create and expand on the character's themes and we want to figure out when music supports and doesn't take away...
We were hoping to get to the storm today, but seeing as we're still in the midst of Act V, I think we'll probably finish that out and work with Felix on music. Hopefully, we'll reach the storm tomorrow and then do a nice, light stumble through of the ENTIRE show! Wow! This is all so exciting.
Including today we're looking at nine more rehearsals! Edinburgh in thirteen days! CAN'T WAIT!
This is Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
Yesterday was quite a whirlwind. We started rehearsal later to accommodate Felix. Unfortunately, Felix was caught in the torrential downpour traffic coming from NYC and couldn't make it to us in time. We proceeded to work through Act IV as a brush-up, really defining and polishing. The Goddess is looking better and better with each run, although we are, admittedly, struggling with singing and dancing at the same time. Our ensemble is comprised of only two musical theater majors, so you will understand... We went on a break and Tim Davis-Reed, our Fringe Faculty Advisor and the cinematographer of our promo video, came in to set up a camera to begin filming our "how to take a show to the Fringe" video. This video is our gift to the college and to future students interested in creating their own theater and taking it somewhere beyond Syracuse. Tim shot the rehearsal as it proceeded with another run of Act IV into Act V - the act of all acts. We spent the next hour and a half debating the final transition from Sorcerer Prospero into Man Prospero. Yes, an hour and a half. You must give us credit, though, because it is a very key transition. Quite possibly the most important transition of the show. We found it had to be a transition on the emotional level and not a quick physical trick. What we came up with is, in my opinion, very powerful. I'm Ariel during this switch and have the privilege of watching it, which gives me goosebumps.
We walked through more of Act V after another break and saying thank you to Tim. We got through...hmm...I want to say about half of the Act. We have a really cool magical element that we're using with drums... We're working to find how we can bring ALL thirteen of the characters onto the stage with only six bodies. We will pick up with Act V and finish blocking it out today.
Felix comes in at 2pm today to do music, of which we are in desperate need. We know the Goddesses need some more music, which will be a nice challenge as we're all moving and singing and dancing through the piece - so now we'll just do all of that with instruments in our hands. We also need to figure out a nice underlying theme for each of the characters. In our original production, we had a phenomenal musician, Dave Snyder, hide behind a piano and do the music for the show. Felix had helped Dave to create themes for each of the characters that were used with each entrance of that character throughout the show. We decided in bringing the project forward to the Fringe that we wanted to do the music ourselves, carrying instruments with us and having everything come from us as the actors. So, having made that decision, we're now juggling the challenge of it. We want to create and expand on the character's themes and we want to figure out when music supports and doesn't take away...
We were hoping to get to the storm today, but seeing as we're still in the midst of Act V, I think we'll probably finish that out and work with Felix on music. Hopefully, we'll reach the storm tomorrow and then do a nice, light stumble through of the ENTIRE show! Wow! This is all so exciting.
Including today we're looking at nine more rehearsals! Edinburgh in thirteen days! CAN'T WAIT!
This is Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
Friday, July 23, 2010
Oh Hey, Friday!
It's Friday and I'm sitting in Funk 'n' Waffles. If you know Syracuse, you know this is the only place to get breakfast at 2:26 pm. We got to sleep in today and will rehearse from 4pm-10pm tonight as that's the time Felix can work with us.
We slept in till 10:30am and had many dream stories to recount after spending last night seeing Inception (A must see if you haven't seen it already!) After waking up, we worked our way to the gym in a torrential downpour...and I'm not exaggerating. We had umbrella and raincoats buttoned and were still soaked through. I had two nice puddles on the pedals of my elliptical machine when I was finished.
After hearing the beautiful story that is Sarah Olbrantz's life pre-Syracuse, I'm here to catch you up on the on-goings of yesterday's rehearsal.
Act IV. Dear Lord - I don't think any of us realized the amount of thought and effort that would go into the physicality that is Act IV. We bring in a spectacle of Goddesses that we have shaved down to literally about two minutes of stage time and we spent the better half of five hours figuring out how this would be compassed. It looks great. We found a way to create a huge, beautiful Goddess with two actors, while creating spirit nymphs on the stage. There is a song and a dance and it doesn't take up half the show. Mission Accomplished. And we're exhausted.
Today we do the storm and music. We are so close to completely the shell that will be our show - and then we'll just fill it in with tons of fun and play. We have the storm today and Act V tomorrow. Act V will be a *itch - but if we go into it knowing that, we should be able to push through it.
I say this with brevity and love.
J x
We slept in till 10:30am and had many dream stories to recount after spending last night seeing Inception (A must see if you haven't seen it already!) After waking up, we worked our way to the gym in a torrential downpour...and I'm not exaggerating. We had umbrella and raincoats buttoned and were still soaked through. I had two nice puddles on the pedals of my elliptical machine when I was finished.
After hearing the beautiful story that is Sarah Olbrantz's life pre-Syracuse, I'm here to catch you up on the on-goings of yesterday's rehearsal.
Act IV. Dear Lord - I don't think any of us realized the amount of thought and effort that would go into the physicality that is Act IV. We bring in a spectacle of Goddesses that we have shaved down to literally about two minutes of stage time and we spent the better half of five hours figuring out how this would be compassed. It looks great. We found a way to create a huge, beautiful Goddess with two actors, while creating spirit nymphs on the stage. There is a song and a dance and it doesn't take up half the show. Mission Accomplished. And we're exhausted.
Today we do the storm and music. We are so close to completely the shell that will be our show - and then we'll just fill it in with tons of fun and play. We have the storm today and Act V tomorrow. Act V will be a *itch - but if we go into it knowing that, we should be able to push through it.
I say this with brevity and love.
J x
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Elephant in the Room
Dear Blog People,
I must keep this short and simple - we have thirteen minutes until rehearsal begins. We've started working off a new and rather fluctuating schedule. I haven't quite adjusted to the new routine and, therefore, have not allotted myself enough time in the morning for the lengthy blog entries I like to write.
Clip Fragments of what we did yesterday:
Massages. Voice Work. Massages. Voice. Script. Tablework - Act IV. Work. Work. Play. First half on feet. Work through. Logistics. Goddesses? Fools. Lunch Break. Elephant. Large Elephant in the room. Energy SHIFTS. Two huge muslin canvases. Hung from the light grid attached to the ceiling. Small break between the two canvases. How to play? How to enter? Exit? Can this canvas be a tree? Can Caliban enter from...? Sigh. Run I.ii. Work through Caliban entrance. Again. Again. Again. Feedback. Blocking. Feedback. End day. Plan for Thursday: Act IV. Friday: Storm (Act I.i) and music rehearsal with Felix. Saturday: Act V. Sunday: ??? :)
Will write later about today...and hopefully it will be more detailed. Love!
J x
I must keep this short and simple - we have thirteen minutes until rehearsal begins. We've started working off a new and rather fluctuating schedule. I haven't quite adjusted to the new routine and, therefore, have not allotted myself enough time in the morning for the lengthy blog entries I like to write.
Clip Fragments of what we did yesterday:
Massages. Voice Work. Massages. Voice. Script. Tablework - Act IV. Work. Work. Play. First half on feet. Work through. Logistics. Goddesses? Fools. Lunch Break. Elephant. Large Elephant in the room. Energy SHIFTS. Two huge muslin canvases. Hung from the light grid attached to the ceiling. Small break between the two canvases. How to play? How to enter? Exit? Can this canvas be a tree? Can Caliban enter from...? Sigh. Run I.ii. Work through Caliban entrance. Again. Again. Again. Feedback. Blocking. Feedback. End day. Plan for Thursday: Act IV. Friday: Storm (Act I.i) and music rehearsal with Felix. Saturday: Act V. Sunday: ??? :)
Will write later about today...and hopefully it will be more detailed. Love!
J x
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Trial and Error...mostly just error
Dear Friends,
I write this blog later in the day because we began rehearsals at 9am this morning. We need to pick up our muslin fabric that will serve as a screen behind which we can store props, costumes and our bodies throughout the show. We rehearsed for three hours and now have an hour lunch break in which Dana and Chelsea are going to get the fabric. When they return we will explore Act I.ii with the fabric and new props/costumes that Laura, Sarah, Dana, Chelsea and Stella purchased last night.
Yesterday we table-worked Act I.ii. We then walked through the exposition at the beginning of the scene and reviewed the physicality we had found to illustrate it while working in NYC. We stumbled through the rest of the scene, introducing a good majority of the characters. This scene took us thirty minutes to work through. Needless to say we'll have to polish it up and hope it runs at a shorter time...or else make some cuts.
The title of this post comes out of an idea we had for the expositional characters. They are a memory of Prospero's and an image of Miranda's imagination. We wanted them to be physically neutral - especially facially. We put black stockings over our faces to take away our facial expression. Unfortunately, the stockings were sheer and instead of hiding our faces, they only distorted them so that we looked like oompa-loompa pin heads...not the effect we were going for. Sarah, who plays Prospero at the beginning of this scene, couldn't play it seriously...neither could the oompa loompa pin heads.
We scrapped the stockings and found black masks that cover the face from forehead to nose. We'll try those out today...hopefully!
The muslin fabric will be a big help today. We hope to work through I.ii and/or feel out the Goddess' physicality in Act IV. It's time to get these minimal props and costumes into play so that the changes, switches and shifts can be quick and smooth and not take away from the limited time we have to perform.
That's about it. I'm sure this sounds like we're slow going, but if you could see Act I.ii and sat through the thirty minutes it currently takes to do it, you'd understand why.
After we figure out I.ii and Act IV, we only have Act I.i and Act V. They're going to be physically intensive, but we're really winding down to the end of the mounting process. Then all that is left is play. Felix left us with that last Saturday, "just play and enjoy."
...Guess we will. :)
Love,
J x
I write this blog later in the day because we began rehearsals at 9am this morning. We need to pick up our muslin fabric that will serve as a screen behind which we can store props, costumes and our bodies throughout the show. We rehearsed for three hours and now have an hour lunch break in which Dana and Chelsea are going to get the fabric. When they return we will explore Act I.ii with the fabric and new props/costumes that Laura, Sarah, Dana, Chelsea and Stella purchased last night.
Yesterday we table-worked Act I.ii. We then walked through the exposition at the beginning of the scene and reviewed the physicality we had found to illustrate it while working in NYC. We stumbled through the rest of the scene, introducing a good majority of the characters. This scene took us thirty minutes to work through. Needless to say we'll have to polish it up and hope it runs at a shorter time...or else make some cuts.
The title of this post comes out of an idea we had for the expositional characters. They are a memory of Prospero's and an image of Miranda's imagination. We wanted them to be physically neutral - especially facially. We put black stockings over our faces to take away our facial expression. Unfortunately, the stockings were sheer and instead of hiding our faces, they only distorted them so that we looked like oompa-loompa pin heads...not the effect we were going for. Sarah, who plays Prospero at the beginning of this scene, couldn't play it seriously...neither could the oompa loompa pin heads.
We scrapped the stockings and found black masks that cover the face from forehead to nose. We'll try those out today...hopefully!
The muslin fabric will be a big help today. We hope to work through I.ii and/or feel out the Goddess' physicality in Act IV. It's time to get these minimal props and costumes into play so that the changes, switches and shifts can be quick and smooth and not take away from the limited time we have to perform.
That's about it. I'm sure this sounds like we're slow going, but if you could see Act I.ii and sat through the thirty minutes it currently takes to do it, you'd understand why.
After we figure out I.ii and Act IV, we only have Act I.i and Act V. They're going to be physically intensive, but we're really winding down to the end of the mounting process. Then all that is left is play. Felix left us with that last Saturday, "just play and enjoy."
...Guess we will. :)
Love,
J x
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
We are such stuff as dreams are made on...
Hey Everyone,
I'm back! I told Sarah it was so lovely to have her write. It felt like I had a guest to my column. We were both talking about the different outlets we have to create. Sarah gets up and sings every morning before rehearsal because that's what she enjoys doing on top of every other creative thing we come up with through the day.
I realized, upon talking with her, that I look forward to getting up and writing...even if it is on a blog - but sometimes I write on my own, too. In fact, because I realized how much I actually look forward to this, not only will I be making the effort to write here, but to write for myself, too. So, thanks for reading and being a writing encouragement.
So many things. My dad texted me this morning with: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." This was his way of letting me know he has started to research the show. My adorable dad likes to research where he and everyone in his near vicinity is going so that we can each appreciate and enjoy every millisecond or where we are... (he's also told me about a whiskey shop in Edinburgh where I can, well, you know...) Anyway, this quote is a very famous one from the Tempest. It comes from our protagonist, Prospero, at one of his more vulnerable moments. And I think it blends right into what Sarah was saying yesterday and what we, as young artists, must acknowledge in the early part of our career. We are such stuff as dreams are made on. I guess I see this as absolute permission and absolute encouragement from the bard himself. We - artists - are the stuff that dreams are made on. And who better to dream than a creator? But doesn't it also reflect the life of a person - artist or no? We, people, are such stuff that dreams are made on. We each need a dream this early. This young. Freshly graduated. Why shouldn't we dream? And why can't a dream be built on us? It is a reminder of the necessity for our hopes for ourselves. ...Thanks, Dad.
Yesterday we all slept in nice and late. Hit the gym. Bought a Starbucks...well, I did...and used up all my Starbucks money. This morning I reverted to "People's Place" on campus which has cheap - and strongish - coffee. Tomorrow, I am restricting myself to instant. My mother asked me if I had ever had instant before. I replied, "Yes. And this stuff is in tea bags, so it brews in the cup." My mother winced.
We got our card for our zip car account. The account allows us to borrow a car for a certain amount of time and 'zip' anywhere we might need to go (in this case wegman's and target) The cupboard was getting bare, so mother hubbard was happy.
I don't know that I got to cover what we did on Sunday (since I took Monday off) so I will recap briefly by mentioning that we did a run through of Act II.i to Act III.iii. We did this twice and it took us about 45 minutes. We're not up to proper pacing, so I'm sure the time will be shaved once we start flying. The first run through felt very scattered. We stumbled through - grasping for lines, blocking. It was like a review before the test. We took a break and came back and it was much smoother. The lines were in better shape, we were solid on blocking and we were connecting in wonderfully sweet ways.
Today we mount Act I.ii. This will be ambitious. It contains the exposition, which we are choosing to illustrate physically. The meeting between master and servant and master and slave and the beginnings of the love story. Lots of magic to be had. We're very excited.
The promo video is done. I need the okay from the cast and then I can post it here, where you will all be free to snigger at its campiness. Please note: corny was an artistic choice. :P
This is Jana with Love. x
I'm back! I told Sarah it was so lovely to have her write. It felt like I had a guest to my column. We were both talking about the different outlets we have to create. Sarah gets up and sings every morning before rehearsal because that's what she enjoys doing on top of every other creative thing we come up with through the day.
I realized, upon talking with her, that I look forward to getting up and writing...even if it is on a blog - but sometimes I write on my own, too. In fact, because I realized how much I actually look forward to this, not only will I be making the effort to write here, but to write for myself, too. So, thanks for reading and being a writing encouragement.
So many things. My dad texted me this morning with: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." This was his way of letting me know he has started to research the show. My adorable dad likes to research where he and everyone in his near vicinity is going so that we can each appreciate and enjoy every millisecond or where we are... (he's also told me about a whiskey shop in Edinburgh where I can, well, you know...) Anyway, this quote is a very famous one from the Tempest. It comes from our protagonist, Prospero, at one of his more vulnerable moments. And I think it blends right into what Sarah was saying yesterday and what we, as young artists, must acknowledge in the early part of our career. We are such stuff as dreams are made on. I guess I see this as absolute permission and absolute encouragement from the bard himself. We - artists - are the stuff that dreams are made on. And who better to dream than a creator? But doesn't it also reflect the life of a person - artist or no? We, people, are such stuff that dreams are made on. We each need a dream this early. This young. Freshly graduated. Why shouldn't we dream? And why can't a dream be built on us? It is a reminder of the necessity for our hopes for ourselves. ...Thanks, Dad.
Yesterday we all slept in nice and late. Hit the gym. Bought a Starbucks...well, I did...and used up all my Starbucks money. This morning I reverted to "People's Place" on campus which has cheap - and strongish - coffee. Tomorrow, I am restricting myself to instant. My mother asked me if I had ever had instant before. I replied, "Yes. And this stuff is in tea bags, so it brews in the cup." My mother winced.
We got our card for our zip car account. The account allows us to borrow a car for a certain amount of time and 'zip' anywhere we might need to go (in this case wegman's and target) The cupboard was getting bare, so mother hubbard was happy.
I don't know that I got to cover what we did on Sunday (since I took Monday off) so I will recap briefly by mentioning that we did a run through of Act II.i to Act III.iii. We did this twice and it took us about 45 minutes. We're not up to proper pacing, so I'm sure the time will be shaved once we start flying. The first run through felt very scattered. We stumbled through - grasping for lines, blocking. It was like a review before the test. We took a break and came back and it was much smoother. The lines were in better shape, we were solid on blocking and we were connecting in wonderfully sweet ways.
Today we mount Act I.ii. This will be ambitious. It contains the exposition, which we are choosing to illustrate physically. The meeting between master and servant and master and slave and the beginnings of the love story. Lots of magic to be had. We're very excited.
The promo video is done. I need the okay from the cast and then I can post it here, where you will all be free to snigger at its campiness. Please note: corny was an artistic choice. :P
This is Jana with Love. x
Monday, July 19, 2010
TGIM - Our First Day Off!
In honor of our first day off from rehearsals, (mind you we all slept in 'til noon) Jana has also taken her first day off from blogging! This is Sarah! And I'm here to bring you my personal, end-of-week re-cap!
This week has been exhilarating, exhausting, yet most of all, educating. Everyone began in high spirits, ready to work. The days kept coming and the days kept going, each one a little more difficult to get through. Not that we weren't excited to work, there were many variables involved here! A) Most of us had to recover from traveling/adjust to the new time zone. B) Our show is very physical, AND we all seem to find it necessary to go to the gym after each rehearsal. C) Our living conditions are that of true bohemian artists, (3 of us are sleeping on air mattresses in the living room/kitchen of a school friend) and D)Syracuse, NY is very, very hot... and humid. Needless to say, these factors added up and began to take a toll.
So how does one do it? How does an actor jump over all of these hurdles and still bring a fresh, positive and lively energy to the rehearsal room? This is where I find myself "continuing my education."
The answer...? I'm still not sure yet. But, I do know that you have to take care of, and be kind to yourself. Lots of water, SLEEP, and good, healthy food have all been my saving graces thus far. I also find that once IN the rehearsal room, it's important to take a moment for yourself, see where you are that particular day, how you are feeling, acknowledge those emotions, and then leave them. You can't be completely present and ready to work if you are thinking about all of the other countless projects you want to be working on, or whatever it is for you personally. I know, our teachers tell us this all the time... but guess what? It's actually true.
The other biggest thing I am learning is that completely self producing your own show...? Harder than you think. I knew from the beginning that we all would be responsible for every aspect of the show, but this is TRULY an undertaking. In the same breath, the reward of being able to say that you accomplished something like this, far surpasses the difficulty of it all. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Yes it's stressful, yes it's hard work and yes, I'm exhausted. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love creating theater. And any way I can do that is a blessing.
Someone once said, "If you love what you do, it's not work." And I guess that's exactly what I'm learning, every day. So there you have it! My, personal, end-of-week re-cap! Jana will be back tomorrow and who knows, maybe I'll make another appearance next Monday! ;)
This week has been exhilarating, exhausting, yet most of all, educating. Everyone began in high spirits, ready to work. The days kept coming and the days kept going, each one a little more difficult to get through. Not that we weren't excited to work, there were many variables involved here! A) Most of us had to recover from traveling/adjust to the new time zone. B) Our show is very physical, AND we all seem to find it necessary to go to the gym after each rehearsal. C) Our living conditions are that of true bohemian artists, (3 of us are sleeping on air mattresses in the living room/kitchen of a school friend) and D)Syracuse, NY is very, very hot... and humid. Needless to say, these factors added up and began to take a toll.
So how does one do it? How does an actor jump over all of these hurdles and still bring a fresh, positive and lively energy to the rehearsal room? This is where I find myself "continuing my education."
The answer...? I'm still not sure yet. But, I do know that you have to take care of, and be kind to yourself. Lots of water, SLEEP, and good, healthy food have all been my saving graces thus far. I also find that once IN the rehearsal room, it's important to take a moment for yourself, see where you are that particular day, how you are feeling, acknowledge those emotions, and then leave them. You can't be completely present and ready to work if you are thinking about all of the other countless projects you want to be working on, or whatever it is for you personally. I know, our teachers tell us this all the time... but guess what? It's actually true.
The other biggest thing I am learning is that completely self producing your own show...? Harder than you think. I knew from the beginning that we all would be responsible for every aspect of the show, but this is TRULY an undertaking. In the same breath, the reward of being able to say that you accomplished something like this, far surpasses the difficulty of it all. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Yes it's stressful, yes it's hard work and yes, I'm exhausted. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love creating theater. And any way I can do that is a blessing.
Someone once said, "If you love what you do, it's not work." And I guess that's exactly what I'm learning, every day. So there you have it! My, personal, end-of-week re-cap! Jana will be back tomorrow and who knows, maybe I'll make another appearance next Monday! ;)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Another Day, Another Post
Hey Everyone,
We've made it to Sunday! I remember last Sunday we had our preliminary meeting and then a day off on Monday before we started working on our feet on Tuesday. Everyone felt so restless on Monday and we all found ourselves brainstorming ourselves out of our minds with ideas, wanting to sprint into action...now we all realize we'll really need these Mondays to rest.
Today we're going to run the string of scenes we've worked through this week. Starting with Act II.i and finishing with Act III.iii. We will then begin tremendous work on I.ii, in which there is a ton of exposition, movement, puppetry and hypnosis. We don't have all of our props and costumes to explore with yet, but we need to tablework through this scene more thoroughly and mark out much of the movement. Because we have limited time in the venue in Edinburgh, we're shaving as much of the exposition as we can and replacing it with movement phrases so that the background to the story is still clear. This is a challenge. I think we've made some good decisions thus far, though.
Yesterday we polished up the Harpy, which is running very smoothly. It's such a force of power now that the thoughts are flowing and building on top of each other. The movement also corresponds directly with what the piece is saying, which is also proving to be very effective. We worked through the scene that surrounds the harpy yesterday and worked transitions in and out of the harpy, which are still tricky without basic costumes to work with. We'll see how the timing plays out once we've gone prop shopping.
Felix, our faculty advisor from the first show, came in to work with us yesterday. We showed him the physicality we found in II.ii, the drunk scene, and asked him to help us with specific transitions that we were only doing sloppily. He cleaned them right up...he really is magical. When we showed him the harpy, he said something in his dear Russian accent along the lines of, "it's good, not need my help." We're feeling confident with Felix's watchful eyes supporting us. He also gave us food for thought in how each character can have a "stock" movement, meaning if you tighten one area of your body and let the other muscles relax, you notice how that tight muscle changes and effects the movement of your body as a whole and creates a character. We found that if we tighten our butts, we have a really great Trinculo (the jester) walk. ...Try that one out at home. :P
I started editing the promo video yesterday. If I can get that up in the next few days I will see about some harpy footage. It will be brief harpy footage if I get it up because I want those of you who see the show to still experience an element of surprise.
We lost Dana's promo video footage - having the camera on while we weren't shooting her and having it off while we were - but we're reshooting her work today and will have that to throw into the mix, which will be quite helpful as far as editing the story goes.
Alright. That's that. Thanks for reading. For commenting. For making me feel like this is worth my time. :P ...I would do it anyway...I like it.
J x
We've made it to Sunday! I remember last Sunday we had our preliminary meeting and then a day off on Monday before we started working on our feet on Tuesday. Everyone felt so restless on Monday and we all found ourselves brainstorming ourselves out of our minds with ideas, wanting to sprint into action...now we all realize we'll really need these Mondays to rest.
Today we're going to run the string of scenes we've worked through this week. Starting with Act II.i and finishing with Act III.iii. We will then begin tremendous work on I.ii, in which there is a ton of exposition, movement, puppetry and hypnosis. We don't have all of our props and costumes to explore with yet, but we need to tablework through this scene more thoroughly and mark out much of the movement. Because we have limited time in the venue in Edinburgh, we're shaving as much of the exposition as we can and replacing it with movement phrases so that the background to the story is still clear. This is a challenge. I think we've made some good decisions thus far, though.
Yesterday we polished up the Harpy, which is running very smoothly. It's such a force of power now that the thoughts are flowing and building on top of each other. The movement also corresponds directly with what the piece is saying, which is also proving to be very effective. We worked through the scene that surrounds the harpy yesterday and worked transitions in and out of the harpy, which are still tricky without basic costumes to work with. We'll see how the timing plays out once we've gone prop shopping.
Felix, our faculty advisor from the first show, came in to work with us yesterday. We showed him the physicality we found in II.ii, the drunk scene, and asked him to help us with specific transitions that we were only doing sloppily. He cleaned them right up...he really is magical. When we showed him the harpy, he said something in his dear Russian accent along the lines of, "it's good, not need my help." We're feeling confident with Felix's watchful eyes supporting us. He also gave us food for thought in how each character can have a "stock" movement, meaning if you tighten one area of your body and let the other muscles relax, you notice how that tight muscle changes and effects the movement of your body as a whole and creates a character. We found that if we tighten our butts, we have a really great Trinculo (the jester) walk. ...Try that one out at home. :P
I started editing the promo video yesterday. If I can get that up in the next few days I will see about some harpy footage. It will be brief harpy footage if I get it up because I want those of you who see the show to still experience an element of surprise.
We lost Dana's promo video footage - having the camera on while we weren't shooting her and having it off while we were - but we're reshooting her work today and will have that to throw into the mix, which will be quite helpful as far as editing the story goes.
Alright. That's that. Thanks for reading. For commenting. For making me feel like this is worth my time. :P ...I would do it anyway...I like it.
J x
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Freaky Friday
Hello, hello! We made it through another rehearsal and face another one today. I think we're starting to feel the fatigue that comes with the end of the week. Yesterday's rehearsal was rather low-energy and yet, we still accomplished quite a bit.
We finished the Harpy. I took some footage of it and am debating posting it now or waiting until we go to Edinburgh and use it to entice people to NYC. We'll see how I feel after I play with it. The harpy is looking great. The movement is full, energetic, powerful, forceful, sharp, smooth and, well, freaky. I can't wait to terrify the audience with it in all honesty... :)
We also looked at the scene the harpy fits into again - III.iii. We questioned some of the previous cuts we made in regards to this scene. What we're struggling with now is making enough cuts to the show so that we can get in and out of the Edinburgh venue space in 2 hours while also keeping the clarity in the throughline of the story. This proves to be harder than it sounds because we know the text backwards and forwards, so if we make a cut, we still know exactly what's going on...we need to make sure that people seeing it for the first time will still know exactly what's going on.
Another interesting challenge that we took into account yesterday is in switching roles throughout the show, we need to make sure that one person's play of a character supports that of another person's play of a character in another scene. This way it won't look like each character is starting over when a new person picks them up and plays them. We want a continuous, building arc and a very solid journey.
We decided that we would add a journey rehearsal to our list of upcoming and necessary music and transition rehearsals. We want to play the scenes that one set of characters are in back to back to back - to follow their progression and see how it plays, builds, and caps off. We can do this several times for several different groups of characters that work together throughout the show.
Whew. Today we are looking at the physical elements in the scenes we've done thus far. Our faculty advisor and movement specialist, Felix Ivanov, is in from NYC this weekend and has agreed to come in and tell us what he sees in our work. What's working, what needs clarity...etc. We are so blessed to have him. We will continue to work through III.iii since the transitions in and out of the harpy are still vague and we have done more text work that feet work with this scene. We hope that the work done today will leave us with the opportunity tomorrow to run the string of scenes we've worked on so far.
I say this with love, peace, hope and laughter....
Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
We finished the Harpy. I took some footage of it and am debating posting it now or waiting until we go to Edinburgh and use it to entice people to NYC. We'll see how I feel after I play with it. The harpy is looking great. The movement is full, energetic, powerful, forceful, sharp, smooth and, well, freaky. I can't wait to terrify the audience with it in all honesty... :)
We also looked at the scene the harpy fits into again - III.iii. We questioned some of the previous cuts we made in regards to this scene. What we're struggling with now is making enough cuts to the show so that we can get in and out of the Edinburgh venue space in 2 hours while also keeping the clarity in the throughline of the story. This proves to be harder than it sounds because we know the text backwards and forwards, so if we make a cut, we still know exactly what's going on...we need to make sure that people seeing it for the first time will still know exactly what's going on.
Another interesting challenge that we took into account yesterday is in switching roles throughout the show, we need to make sure that one person's play of a character supports that of another person's play of a character in another scene. This way it won't look like each character is starting over when a new person picks them up and plays them. We want a continuous, building arc and a very solid journey.
We decided that we would add a journey rehearsal to our list of upcoming and necessary music and transition rehearsals. We want to play the scenes that one set of characters are in back to back to back - to follow their progression and see how it plays, builds, and caps off. We can do this several times for several different groups of characters that work together throughout the show.
Whew. Today we are looking at the physical elements in the scenes we've done thus far. Our faculty advisor and movement specialist, Felix Ivanov, is in from NYC this weekend and has agreed to come in and tell us what he sees in our work. What's working, what needs clarity...etc. We are so blessed to have him. We will continue to work through III.iii since the transitions in and out of the harpy are still vague and we have done more text work that feet work with this scene. We hope that the work done today will leave us with the opportunity tomorrow to run the string of scenes we've worked on so far.
I say this with love, peace, hope and laughter....
Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
Friday, July 16, 2010
Rehearsal/Film/Thunder Storm
Whew - Friday morning! This week is going by so quickly! I don't know what to do with it...rehearse maybe?
I have to make this brief. There is so much to say and so little time to say it.
We rehearsed III.iii yesterday - the Harpy scene - and got through about half of the Harpy. We made some very necessary changes to it. We worked on it while in NYC and changed it there. Yesterday we got on our feet and tried to find what we did in NYC...struggled and scrapped everything we changed, rebuilding the entire piece. We examined the text more and divided it among ourselves differently so that the thoughts meld with each other and the piece builds with power and clarity. We then proceeded to put it on its feet and started to find movement with it to correspond to the action of the text. This isn't to say we were completely lacking before.... however, because we have time to explore we are taking advantage of the opportunity to unearth layers in the text that were not revealed before.
We ended rehearsal at four and immediately switched artistic gears, getting "camera ready" and putting on make up for the first time in four days. We filmed our "promo" video in Thornden Park...and gathered a lot of attention. Not only were our costumes something to snigger at, but everyone wanted to be in the film. We got comments like "Is this a joke?" and " Is this going to be on MTV?" and - my favorite - "Is this for Lady GaGa?" ...We told them all "Yes."
Today we are looking to finish basic work on the Harpy and do a run of the scenes we've worked through to this point. It feels like we've accomplished half of the play, but the scenes we have left to work are ones that will require even more physical effort than what we've already exerted, so we still have "miles to go before we sleep." Seeing as we're having such a good time, I don't think this will be at all burdensome.
It thunderstormed last night - I slept through it - but the girls texted each other saying, "Listen to that Tempest." We think this is a good omen for our project...the elements support us!
With Love,
The TLs
PS - We had the pleasure of meeting new SU Drama Chair, Ralph Zito, yesterday. We had a wonderful time divulging our project to him and we look forward to sharing our work with him in Edinburgh. The Department is very lucky to have him.
I have to make this brief. There is so much to say and so little time to say it.
We rehearsed III.iii yesterday - the Harpy scene - and got through about half of the Harpy. We made some very necessary changes to it. We worked on it while in NYC and changed it there. Yesterday we got on our feet and tried to find what we did in NYC...struggled and scrapped everything we changed, rebuilding the entire piece. We examined the text more and divided it among ourselves differently so that the thoughts meld with each other and the piece builds with power and clarity. We then proceeded to put it on its feet and started to find movement with it to correspond to the action of the text. This isn't to say we were completely lacking before.... however, because we have time to explore we are taking advantage of the opportunity to unearth layers in the text that were not revealed before.
We ended rehearsal at four and immediately switched artistic gears, getting "camera ready" and putting on make up for the first time in four days. We filmed our "promo" video in Thornden Park...and gathered a lot of attention. Not only were our costumes something to snigger at, but everyone wanted to be in the film. We got comments like "Is this a joke?" and " Is this going to be on MTV?" and - my favorite - "Is this for Lady GaGa?" ...We told them all "Yes."
Today we are looking to finish basic work on the Harpy and do a run of the scenes we've worked through to this point. It feels like we've accomplished half of the play, but the scenes we have left to work are ones that will require even more physical effort than what we've already exerted, so we still have "miles to go before we sleep." Seeing as we're having such a good time, I don't think this will be at all burdensome.
It thunderstormed last night - I slept through it - but the girls texted each other saying, "Listen to that Tempest." We think this is a good omen for our project...the elements support us!
With Love,
The TLs
PS - We had the pleasure of meeting new SU Drama Chair, Ralph Zito, yesterday. We had a wonderful time divulging our project to him and we look forward to sharing our work with him in Edinburgh. The Department is very lucky to have him.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Rehearsal Number Three
Hard to believe it's now Thursday and we are over halfway through the week. I think we're all getting used to the idea that we will be staying here and are really settling in. We spend many a giddy night laughing at different ways to plug our show and advertise our ensemble...we play with lines in the script, sing diddies, and make up really bad slogans so that we laugh until we ache.
Yesterday was spent reviewing the two scenes - II.i and II.ii - that we did the day before, Tuesday. We played with II.ii briefly and did a run of II.i into II.ii working the transition. This made us realize that we will probably need a rehearsal solely for transitions because there are many of them and we don't want a slow transition to waste the precious time we're allotted in the Fringe space.
We also went into working scenes III.i and III.ii. These were really great scenes to play with. Each of these scenes contains three key characters. So Holly, Stella, and Sarah play the characters in III.i and Dana, Laura, and I (Jana) play the characters in III.ii. We ended up tableworking the scenes as a group, reading through our respective parts, discussing what's happening in the scene, discussing what's happening between the characters - what the characters want...etc. Then we put one scene in one room and one scene in the hallway and played within our scenes. This was the perfect scenario because it allowed everyone to work and progress for the next hour through their scene, finding things and discovering things without the pressure of outside eyes. At the end of the hour, we came back together and showed each other what we had found. It was so encouraging to have friendly outside eyes looking in. We loved each other's scenes - not just because we love each other - but because we love what each other came up with...and we know we'll find more. We told each other what we saw and what we thought worked within the scenes and encouraged each other to keep exploring.
This leads me to recognize the value in working with a group of trusted friends. It's important to have someone who can tell you the truth in love and to have someone to wants to see you succeed and will give you the motivation you need to do so.
All this said, we're making a lot of progress through the show. We've connected four scenes in a row and will add a fifth scene to that string today - working on the HARPY, which many of you thought was strange after watching our Kickstarter promo video. :P
After rehearsal today we're shooting our next promo video...which I must now chart out so that editing will be remotely possible...I will say goodbye for now.
As always, thank you for reading. Your eyes, thoughts, feedback, and love are always appreciated. x
Yesterday was spent reviewing the two scenes - II.i and II.ii - that we did the day before, Tuesday. We played with II.ii briefly and did a run of II.i into II.ii working the transition. This made us realize that we will probably need a rehearsal solely for transitions because there are many of them and we don't want a slow transition to waste the precious time we're allotted in the Fringe space.
We also went into working scenes III.i and III.ii. These were really great scenes to play with. Each of these scenes contains three key characters. So Holly, Stella, and Sarah play the characters in III.i and Dana, Laura, and I (Jana) play the characters in III.ii. We ended up tableworking the scenes as a group, reading through our respective parts, discussing what's happening in the scene, discussing what's happening between the characters - what the characters want...etc. Then we put one scene in one room and one scene in the hallway and played within our scenes. This was the perfect scenario because it allowed everyone to work and progress for the next hour through their scene, finding things and discovering things without the pressure of outside eyes. At the end of the hour, we came back together and showed each other what we had found. It was so encouraging to have friendly outside eyes looking in. We loved each other's scenes - not just because we love each other - but because we love what each other came up with...and we know we'll find more. We told each other what we saw and what we thought worked within the scenes and encouraged each other to keep exploring.
This leads me to recognize the value in working with a group of trusted friends. It's important to have someone who can tell you the truth in love and to have someone to wants to see you succeed and will give you the motivation you need to do so.
All this said, we're making a lot of progress through the show. We've connected four scenes in a row and will add a fifth scene to that string today - working on the HARPY, which many of you thought was strange after watching our Kickstarter promo video. :P
After rehearsal today we're shooting our next promo video...which I must now chart out so that editing will be remotely possible...I will say goodbye for now.
As always, thank you for reading. Your eyes, thoughts, feedback, and love are always appreciated. x
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sensuality in the Storm
Hey All,
We rehearsed for the second time here in Syracuse. Instead of boring you with a play by play that begins every paragraph with "and then," I will describe our time together in the 900 block black box space with word fragments.
Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy....just kidding. ;)
Walk down. Jog down. Down the hill. Starbucks in hand. Iced Coffee. Iced. Enter the space. Blank. Black. Yellow line of tape. One step to audience members. They will wear the hats. Talk. Stretch. Talk. Laugh. Huh-hum. Breathe. Blow it out. Exhale. Breathe. Stretch. Laugh. Stranger. In rehearsal space. Exits. Laugh. Questions. Answers? Play. Walk through. Word through. Work through. Repeat. Discuss. Repeat. Repeat. Break. Half a granola bar. Back in action. Two more runs. Next scene. TRANSITIONS?! AHHH. Laugh through. Bridge. Under, over, crab walk. Collapse. Bridge up...yikes. Switch over. Switch. Triangle staging. Sit out. Time out. Play out. Work through. Work again. Spin out. Doubles. Doubles. They get it. Promo video discussion. More cuts? Shave it down. 10 minutes. Break. Breathe. Internet.
...Get the picture? Duh.
...Yeah, I reverted to middle school today. Call it a safe play?
Love,
The TLs
We rehearsed for the second time here in Syracuse. Instead of boring you with a play by play that begins every paragraph with "and then," I will describe our time together in the 900 block black box space with word fragments.
Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy....just kidding. ;)
Walk down. Jog down. Down the hill. Starbucks in hand. Iced Coffee. Iced. Enter the space. Blank. Black. Yellow line of tape. One step to audience members. They will wear the hats. Talk. Stretch. Talk. Laugh. Huh-hum. Breathe. Blow it out. Exhale. Breathe. Stretch. Laugh. Stranger. In rehearsal space. Exits. Laugh. Questions. Answers? Play. Walk through. Word through. Work through. Repeat. Discuss. Repeat. Repeat. Break. Half a granola bar. Back in action. Two more runs. Next scene. TRANSITIONS?! AHHH. Laugh through. Bridge. Under, over, crab walk. Collapse. Bridge up...yikes. Switch over. Switch. Triangle staging. Sit out. Time out. Play out. Work through. Work again. Spin out. Doubles. Doubles. They get it. Promo video discussion. More cuts? Shave it down. 10 minutes. Break. Breathe. Internet.
...Get the picture? Duh.
...Yeah, I reverted to middle school today. Call it a safe play?
Love,
The TLs
Signed, Sealed! Off-Off Broadway here we come!
Hello avid blog readers! Now that we have settled into our prospective living spaces and have gone to Wegmans to feed ourselves for the next three weeks it seems it is time for an important blog post. There is much to report on for our NYC production happening this fall. As you all know our kickstarter was successfully funded by our many supporters. On Wednesday June 30th we successfully booked our space for the last week in September. The space is the Off-Off Broadway Theater at the Roy Arias Studios on 43rd street.
The entire process for booking the space went smoothly. The manager was very excited to have us there because he has an affinity for Shakespeare (smart man). We put down our deposit and now we are good to go! At the bottom of this post is a link to their website! They have a lot of spaces for rent at reasonable prices. This is the perfect place for any up and coming theater artists.
http://royariasstudios.com
Check it out!
See you all in NYC very very soon!
Love,
The Tempest Ladies
The entire process for booking the space went smoothly. The manager was very excited to have us there because he has an affinity for Shakespeare (smart man). We put down our deposit and now we are good to go! At the bottom of this post is a link to their website! They have a lot of spaces for rent at reasonable prices. This is the perfect place for any up and coming theater artists.
http://royariasstudios.com
Check it out!
See you all in NYC very very soon!
Love,
The Tempest Ladies
Park Picnic/Prop Meeting
Hey Everyone!
We're heading into rehearsal number two in about an hour, but I wanted to take an opportunity to update you on our recent endeavors.
Last night we met in the park for a picnic dinner and some updates on where we are in our Fringe process. Chelsea, our stage manager, is doing a beautiful job in keeping us connected with all necessary sources. We talked luggage, fliers, and venue/housing locations in Edinburgh.
The torch was passed to Sarah, our other chief organizer, who had us brain storm for prop lists and costume pieces. The show, while very simplistic, does require certain items to accent and clarify the action on stage.
Stella and Dana are very excited to make some of the hats for the characters. They made some of the hats in the original production, but want to remake them so that we will carry a fresher look into Edinburgh.
Laura is showing a great interest in the music scene and seems to have a ball thinking of different products/items we can turn into musical instruments. We've decided as an ensemble that we want all actors present on the stage for the majority, if not all of, the show. This means that if an actor isn't in the action of the scene, they will always be supporting the scene with different musical underscoring. I'm excited to see where that goes. Different musical item ideas thrown around were: milk jugs, coconut shells, finger piano, kazoos, tambourines...etc.
We also decided what we want for our "commercial." We think this video will be a great way for us to promote our show to Edinburgh papers and media. We want them interested in seeing us before we arrive in Edinburgh. We think if we get them excited early, we will have a better shot of filling up our venue's houses from the beginning of the run. ...I will also add that I'm particularly thrilled with the opportunity to play with the editing of said video.
OH! We're also looking to have photos done of the ensemble in the rehearsal process. Holly astutely pointed out that these would be really useful for promoting the show later on in NYC...so we're hoping we will have access to those...
That's about it...will write more later when we have another rehearsal to report on.
This is Jana for The TLs... x
We're heading into rehearsal number two in about an hour, but I wanted to take an opportunity to update you on our recent endeavors.
Last night we met in the park for a picnic dinner and some updates on where we are in our Fringe process. Chelsea, our stage manager, is doing a beautiful job in keeping us connected with all necessary sources. We talked luggage, fliers, and venue/housing locations in Edinburgh.
The torch was passed to Sarah, our other chief organizer, who had us brain storm for prop lists and costume pieces. The show, while very simplistic, does require certain items to accent and clarify the action on stage.
Stella and Dana are very excited to make some of the hats for the characters. They made some of the hats in the original production, but want to remake them so that we will carry a fresher look into Edinburgh.
Laura is showing a great interest in the music scene and seems to have a ball thinking of different products/items we can turn into musical instruments. We've decided as an ensemble that we want all actors present on the stage for the majority, if not all of, the show. This means that if an actor isn't in the action of the scene, they will always be supporting the scene with different musical underscoring. I'm excited to see where that goes. Different musical item ideas thrown around were: milk jugs, coconut shells, finger piano, kazoos, tambourines...etc.
We also decided what we want for our "commercial." We think this video will be a great way for us to promote our show to Edinburgh papers and media. We want them interested in seeing us before we arrive in Edinburgh. We think if we get them excited early, we will have a better shot of filling up our venue's houses from the beginning of the run. ...I will also add that I'm particularly thrilled with the opportunity to play with the editing of said video.
OH! We're also looking to have photos done of the ensemble in the rehearsal process. Holly astutely pointed out that these would be really useful for promoting the show later on in NYC...so we're hoping we will have access to those...
That's about it...will write more later when we have another rehearsal to report on.
This is Jana for The TLs... x
Sunday, July 11, 2010
First Rehearsal
Hey All,
We've made it safely to Syracuse. We arrived yesterday via plane and train and got settled into our apartments - a little later than we may have planned, but we're all snug now. With a Target run for a shower curtain and fan we should be good to go. :)
We had a read through with our newly chosen characters today. We make a lot of switches during the show - from one character to another - and it made us laugh with just how many switches there are and just how quickly one of us must exit the stage with the last line of one scene and enter again with the first line of the next scene. All in all the read through sounded great. It felt so good to sink back into the text as an ensemble.
We're looking to get onto our feet this Tuesday. We came into these rehearsals completely memorized and off book, so we're anxious to get moving, working the text through our bodies.
We'll also be working to produce a "Tempest Trailer" that will show everyone what's "coming soon" to Edinburgh.
Needless to say, we'll be occupied and busy, but in the best sense. I think we're looking at a great time with great people in some great places.
So here's a shout out to you for reading - and we hope you'll stay tuned!
We've made it safely to Syracuse. We arrived yesterday via plane and train and got settled into our apartments - a little later than we may have planned, but we're all snug now. With a Target run for a shower curtain and fan we should be good to go. :)
We had a read through with our newly chosen characters today. We make a lot of switches during the show - from one character to another - and it made us laugh with just how many switches there are and just how quickly one of us must exit the stage with the last line of one scene and enter again with the first line of the next scene. All in all the read through sounded great. It felt so good to sink back into the text as an ensemble.
We're looking to get onto our feet this Tuesday. We came into these rehearsals completely memorized and off book, so we're anxious to get moving, working the text through our bodies.
We'll also be working to produce a "Tempest Trailer" that will show everyone what's "coming soon" to Edinburgh.
Needless to say, we'll be occupied and busy, but in the best sense. I think we're looking at a great time with great people in some great places.
So here's a shout out to you for reading - and we hope you'll stay tuned!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Kickstarter Victory
Dear Friends, Followers, and Donors,
Many thanks to you for supporting our endeavors. It's incredible to think how far we've come with the help of people who love and believe in us.
We were buying fabric just over a year ago for our first production - and here I am typing to you while preparing to leave for a rehearsal that will not only take this show on to Edinburgh, Scotland, but back to NYC where it will be showcased in a venue you helped us to obtain. We will never be able to repay you for the blessing you have bestowed upon us. All we can say is thank you. thank you. thank you. You are each incredible and have found a way to touch us like we've never been touched.
With Love,
The Tempest Ladies
Many thanks to you for supporting our endeavors. It's incredible to think how far we've come with the help of people who love and believe in us.
We were buying fabric just over a year ago for our first production - and here I am typing to you while preparing to leave for a rehearsal that will not only take this show on to Edinburgh, Scotland, but back to NYC where it will be showcased in a venue you helped us to obtain. We will never be able to repay you for the blessing you have bestowed upon us. All we can say is thank you. thank you. thank you. You are each incredible and have found a way to touch us like we've never been touched.
With Love,
The Tempest Ladies
Sunday, June 6, 2010
By Providence Divine
'Ello! (That's British for hello.)
I'm Dana. I think I'm the last Tempest Lady (do I capitalize these words?) to introduce myself and I know I'm the one who suffers the severest case of writer's block. I am also self-conscious about my apprehension of proper grammar; and punctuation? Anyway, I felt compelled to write a few words of very emphatic THANKS in light of recent events! Since launching our Kickstarter fundraising page three days ago, our generous project backers have donated $2236.00! We are already 75% funded and 10000000% thankful. It means the world to know that we have such a large and caring support system of friends, family, and professors willing to lend a helping hand and share in this experience. We are truly grateful for each contribution whether it be a monetary gift, a gift of wisdom and advice, or candy (which can be mailed directly to me...for distribution...to the other tempest ladi- my stomach). Please know that we are infinitely inspired by your generosity and "thus humble ever". We still have $764.00 to raise in 34 days so "gentle breath of yours [our] sails must fill, for else [our] project fails, which was to please". That was a quote from a play by William Snakesteare, I believe it is called The Temptress and it's funny 'cause it's true! If we are half as lucky (and I'm no good at percentages) as we have been in the past 72 hours, I'm sure we will achieve our goal! Thank you thank you thank you again and again and again for all the kindness and support. We love you.
Chip Chip Cheerio,
Dana
I'm Dana. I think I'm the last Tempest Lady (do I capitalize these words?) to introduce myself and I know I'm the one who suffers the severest case of writer's block. I am also self-conscious about my apprehension of proper grammar; and punctuation? Anyway, I felt compelled to write a few words of very emphatic THANKS in light of recent events! Since launching our Kickstarter fundraising page three days ago, our generous project backers have donated $2236.00! We are already 75% funded and 10000000% thankful. It means the world to know that we have such a large and caring support system of friends, family, and professors willing to lend a helping hand and share in this experience. We are truly grateful for each contribution whether it be a monetary gift, a gift of wisdom and advice, or candy (which can be mailed directly to me...for distribution...to the other tempest ladi- my stomach). Please know that we are infinitely inspired by your generosity and "thus humble ever". We still have $764.00 to raise in 34 days so "gentle breath of yours [our] sails must fill, for else [our] project fails, which was to please". That was a quote from a play by William Snakesteare, I believe it is called The Temptress and it's funny 'cause it's true! If we are half as lucky (and I'm no good at percentages) as we have been in the past 72 hours, I'm sure we will achieve our goal! Thank you thank you thank you again and again and again for all the kindness and support. We love you.
Chip Chip Cheerio,
Dana
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Kickstarter!
Hey All,
Our latest endeavor has been launched! We're looking to raise $3000 from supporters and sponsors, fans and friends (like you) through our newly developed Kickstarter account. What would six women do with $3000? ...Wouldn't you like to know. ;)
We're taking our show straight from Edinburgh in August - to you! That's right - this September, you will have the opportunity to see what only overseas audiences will have witnessed - The Tempest.
But we can't do it without you! Sure, we can memorize lines, make costumes, build props and instruments, but we can't book a venue without your generous contributions.
So give up an itunes song ($1), give up a latte ($5), give up a night on the town ($20), give up your overnight getaway ($100), give up your dream vacation ($500) - okay - maybe you should take the dream vacation... But if you give it up, give it to us! We'll put it to the best use. Promise.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thetempestladies/the-tempest-ladies-take-on-manhattan
Thanks for reading. Thanks for loving. Thanks for your interest. And thanks for your continued support.
With Love and Gratitude,
The Tempest Ladies
Our latest endeavor has been launched! We're looking to raise $3000 from supporters and sponsors, fans and friends (like you) through our newly developed Kickstarter account. What would six women do with $3000? ...Wouldn't you like to know. ;)
We're taking our show straight from Edinburgh in August - to you! That's right - this September, you will have the opportunity to see what only overseas audiences will have witnessed - The Tempest.
But we can't do it without you! Sure, we can memorize lines, make costumes, build props and instruments, but we can't book a venue without your generous contributions.
So give up an itunes song ($1), give up a latte ($5), give up a night on the town ($20), give up your overnight getaway ($100), give up your dream vacation ($500) - okay - maybe you should take the dream vacation... But if you give it up, give it to us! We'll put it to the best use. Promise.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thetempestladies/the-tempest-ladies-take-on-manhattan
Thanks for reading. Thanks for loving. Thanks for your interest. And thanks for your continued support.
With Love and Gratitude,
The Tempest Ladies
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Hello avid blog readers and confused internet users who accidentally ended up on this site:
My name is Laura Borgwardt and I am in no way affiliated with the Tempest Ladies. (Actually, I just wanted to break the trend of people claiming to be involved with this project…but in reality, yes, I’m an ensemble member. Oh boy. Let’s see how my writing style translates to people who don’t know me…it could be disastrous).
We are now on a slight hiatus—after graduation we all went our separate ways for a month of work, home, being a child actor star, etc, before we head to Syracuse in July to rehearse for the Fringe.
We are working our way up the social media ladder and are excited about our twitter account (which I have no idea how to use…but our resident internet geniuses are taking care of it), our blog, and are now endeavoring into the world of kickstarter.com—we’ll tell you more about that once it gets up…but let me just say, we’ve got some kick-ass prizes in store! Oh! And we are now listed on the Quaker House Website as part of their official programming (http://www.venue40.org.uk/programme)! Check it out! And then when you happen to be in Scotland this summer on holiday, come and see the show!!!
Other current tasks include memorizing our parts, collecting instruments (over the past week I have spent many an hour in my room playing random drums and tin cans…my job doesn’t start until next week…what can I say?), searching for a venue for our New York performance, and living our lives. It’s all very exciting.
That’s it for now. I’m sure the more prolific members of our ensemble will continue to blog and make up for my sad display of blog ineptitude.
Love and peace.
--Laura
My name is Laura Borgwardt and I am in no way affiliated with the Tempest Ladies. (Actually, I just wanted to break the trend of people claiming to be involved with this project…but in reality, yes, I’m an ensemble member. Oh boy. Let’s see how my writing style translates to people who don’t know me…it could be disastrous).
We are now on a slight hiatus—after graduation we all went our separate ways for a month of work, home, being a child actor star, etc, before we head to Syracuse in July to rehearse for the Fringe.
We are working our way up the social media ladder and are excited about our twitter account (which I have no idea how to use…but our resident internet geniuses are taking care of it), our blog, and are now endeavoring into the world of kickstarter.com—we’ll tell you more about that once it gets up…but let me just say, we’ve got some kick-ass prizes in store! Oh! And we are now listed on the Quaker House Website as part of their official programming (http://www.venue40.org.uk/programme)! Check it out! And then when you happen to be in Scotland this summer on holiday, come and see the show!!!
Other current tasks include memorizing our parts, collecting instruments (over the past week I have spent many an hour in my room playing random drums and tin cans…my job doesn’t start until next week…what can I say?), searching for a venue for our New York performance, and living our lives. It’s all very exciting.
That’s it for now. I’m sure the more prolific members of our ensemble will continue to blog and make up for my sad display of blog ineptitude.
Love and peace.
--Laura
Sunday, May 23, 2010
More has come!
Hello all, my name is Stella Berg and as can be deduced I too am a member of the Tempest clan of ladies. Finishing up the last semester of college EVER and graduating is a very exhilarating yet frightening experience and that is what the girls and I are going through presently. I apologize for the delay in this post but there were diplomas to receive, caps to be thrown, apartments to be moved out of and rotten vegetables to be scraped off the shelves in the refrigerator. Anyways, back on track you’ve heard about our show in Syracuse and you’ve heard all that we’ve done in order to go to Edinburgh Scotland BUT for all you New Yorkers fearing you’re going to miss out on this phenomenal piece of theater fear not because thanks to more incredible people and lucky turn of events we’re going to have a New York production when we return.
Just to give you a little background information, I was born in New York and my dad being an artist always had a lot of cool, fabulous artsy people around. Scott Griffin was a friend of his that I knew and loved from the start. He gave me piano lessons and he taught me my first phrases in Turkish when both he and my family (though at different times) all moved to Istanbul, Turkey. We lost touch for quite a number of years, however, after Scott moved back to New York and my family stayed on. A decade later while doing the Tepper semester in the city we both felt it was time to reconnect. I went to his office which turned out to be the penthouse of the Westbeth building down in the West village. He asked about our project, was thrilled by our endeavors and achievements and without hesitation inquired what he could do to assist the project further. I didn’t know what to say. Therefore he did the talking. “Well, the five of you are already here doing Tepper. Jana only lives in Maryland, what is that, three hours? I’ll pay for Jana’s ticket if she wants to come up every weekend and rehearse. You can rehearse here if you’d like. Then you can do a showing of your show here as well as in Edinburgh.” Flabbergasted all I could do was sputter that I couldn’t thank him enough for his generosity and that I’d meet with the girls and get back to him with our answer. Well, how could we possibly say no? Jana, like the trooper that she is, travelled six hours in total every week so that we could all rehearse our baby in the most wonderful space in Manhattan. Thanks to Scott we will be bringing the show here in September after we’ve returned from the UK and we feel so fortunate to have so many incredible, inspirational supporters.
Hello all, my name is Stella Berg and as can be deduced I too am a member of the Tempest clan of ladies. Finishing up the last semester of college EVER and graduating is a very exhilarating yet frightening experience and that is what the girls and I are going through presently. I apologize for the delay in this post but there were diplomas to receive, caps to be thrown, apartments to be moved out of and rotten vegetables to be scraped off the shelves in the refrigerator. Anyways, back on track you’ve heard about our show in Syracuse and you’ve heard all that we’ve done in order to go to Edinburgh Scotland BUT for all you New Yorkers fearing you’re going to miss out on this phenomenal piece of theater fear not because thanks to more incredible people and lucky turn of events we’re going to have a New York production when we return.
Just to give you a little background information, I was born in New York and my dad being an artist always had a lot of cool, fabulous artsy people around. Scott Griffin was a friend of his that I knew and loved from the start. He gave me piano lessons and he taught me my first phrases in Turkish when both he and my family (though at different times) all moved to Istanbul, Turkey. We lost touch for quite a number of years, however, after Scott moved back to New York and my family stayed on. A decade later while doing the Tepper semester in the city we both felt it was time to reconnect. I went to his office which turned out to be the penthouse of the Westbeth building down in the West village. He asked about our project, was thrilled by our endeavors and achievements and without hesitation inquired what he could do to assist the project further. I didn’t know what to say. Therefore he did the talking. “Well, the five of you are already here doing Tepper. Jana only lives in Maryland, what is that, three hours? I’ll pay for Jana’s ticket if she wants to come up every weekend and rehearse. You can rehearse here if you’d like. Then you can do a showing of your show here as well as in Edinburgh.” Flabbergasted all I could do was sputter that I couldn’t thank him enough for his generosity and that I’d meet with the girls and get back to him with our answer. Well, how could we possibly say no? Jana, like the trooper that she is, travelled six hours in total every week so that we could all rehearse our baby in the most wonderful space in Manhattan. Thanks to Scott we will be bringing the show here in September after we’ve returned from the UK and we feel so fortunate to have so many incredible, inspirational supporters.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Heya! I'm Holly another ensemble member and all around kook. As Sarah just said, we had a lot of work ahead of us.
What does it mean to bring a show to the Fringe festival? A Daunting question, I know, but not impossible to figure out. Thanks to our wonderful teachers, Joe Whelan, Tim Davis-Reed, and Felix Ivanov, everything was suddenly illuminated.
1.A Venue- The biggest hurdle we faced was finding a venue. There are many different factors that go into researching your venue. What kind of space do you want? Black box. Proscenium, A field?! Depending upon the type of production this is a crucial question. Next you will want to know how big of a house you want to play too. If you are a larger scale production with a more established company you probably want an audience larger than 120 people. If you are starting out it would be better to look for a space with less than a hundred so that the responsibility of filling the space is less daunting. Location is VERY important. You want to make sure that you are at a venue that is easily accessible to the walking audience. Anywhere off of the Royal Mile is usually your best bet. When you are shopping around for your venue don’t forget to consider: your technical requirements, your budget, and your dates and time slot. Once you have narrowed it down to 10 it’s time to send out proposals and applications and wait!!!
2.Advertising- This is the key element to getting people to see your production. There will be many forms you will be filling out that require a word limit to describe your show for advertising. The Fringe Program requires a 50 word limit I believe. So you must learn to be creative and brief. Chelsea, our stage manager and savior, helped find us someone who would take on the advertisement design. You will notice the “T” with the mysterious woman eyeing you, which was the work of our wonderful designer, Marina. It is also important to think of new and creative ways to get people to see your show. In fact, today we just spoke about creating a Mockumentary of the rehearsal process.
I'll let all of this sink in for you. More to come.
What does it mean to bring a show to the Fringe festival? A Daunting question, I know, but not impossible to figure out. Thanks to our wonderful teachers, Joe Whelan, Tim Davis-Reed, and Felix Ivanov, everything was suddenly illuminated.
1.A Venue- The biggest hurdle we faced was finding a venue. There are many different factors that go into researching your venue. What kind of space do you want? Black box. Proscenium, A field?! Depending upon the type of production this is a crucial question. Next you will want to know how big of a house you want to play too. If you are a larger scale production with a more established company you probably want an audience larger than 120 people. If you are starting out it would be better to look for a space with less than a hundred so that the responsibility of filling the space is less daunting. Location is VERY important. You want to make sure that you are at a venue that is easily accessible to the walking audience. Anywhere off of the Royal Mile is usually your best bet. When you are shopping around for your venue don’t forget to consider: your technical requirements, your budget, and your dates and time slot. Once you have narrowed it down to 10 it’s time to send out proposals and applications and wait!!!
2.Advertising- This is the key element to getting people to see your production. There will be many forms you will be filling out that require a word limit to describe your show for advertising. The Fringe Program requires a 50 word limit I believe. So you must learn to be creative and brief. Chelsea, our stage manager and savior, helped find us someone who would take on the advertisement design. You will notice the “T” with the mysterious woman eyeing you, which was the work of our wonderful designer, Marina. It is also important to think of new and creative ways to get people to see your show. In fact, today we just spoke about creating a Mockumentary of the rehearsal process.
I'll let all of this sink in for you. More to come.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Another 'Tempest' Brews...
Hello! I'm Sarah Olbrantz, another ensemble member! And I'm here to tell you the next of our sea-sorrow!
After initially working on ‘The Tempest,’ the cast as a whole felt overwhelmingly fulfilled. We had set out to accomplish the impossible. Outside forces tried to stop us, our inner voices grew weak and weary, but we pulled through and made it happen. What an achievement.
But this feeling was so good and exciting, that none of us wanted it to end. How could we sustain this energy? Like a drug, we had tasted the sweet elixir that is ‘creation,’ and desperately sought for more. In my own personal attempt to flee the country of America once again, I spoke the words that were secretly being whispered by everyone’s heart: Let’s try to take our show to the Fringe Festival in Scotland. Wheels began turning and ideas poured out.
The Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) at Syracuse had recently visited our theater department, discussing her willingness and dedication to supporting and helping young actors in any of our passionate endeavors. We all immediately thought of this and began working on an email, proposing a meeting to discuss our passionate endeavor. After spending three years at Syracuse University, we felt confident that the "powers-that-be" would be more than willing to help us out in any way possible, even if that meant just listening to our proposal.
Dean Clarke responded promptly and the next thing we knew all six of us, including supportive faculty member Timothy Davis-Reed, were meeting in her office. She loved the idea. We all took notes, discussed the grants we would need to apply for, exchanged emails and left with very high hopes that over the summer break, Dean Clarke would be able to find room for our project in the year’s budget. Some ideas that were discussed included filming a documentary, or a “how-to," on taking a show to the Fringe; allowing future students to use it as a resource for their own passionate endeavors. Some other ideas were to try and involve VPA departments other than Drama; such as Communications and Rhetorical Studies and Art and Design for all of our advertising needs, and set/prop necessities. This would open lines of communication within VPA and potentially create new, working relationships. We solidified these ideas with our Stage Manager, Chelsea Jennings, and then put our project to bed. We would have to wait until the fall to find out if our proposal was actually possible and worth pursuing.
Fast forward to the Fall of 2009: Back at school, we email Dean Clarke to see if we can meet again to discuss the progress of our potential project. We eventually meet and after solidifying details of the project, Dean Clarke and her faithful assistant Katy Foley give us the go ahead to pursue the means by which we could gain funding for our project.
Success! The six of us, seven of us including our incredible stage manager, meet and pull a proposal together (mostly our stage manager – she is remarkable). We submit it and over Thanksgiving break are granted the money from the Co-Curricular Fund. We now are officially taking a Syracuse University supported show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August of 2010.
Logistically, there was an incredible amount of work that now needed to be done. Applying to the Fringe, finding a theater, requesting that theater, being granted that theater, travel dates, rehearsal dates and space, advertising, production costs and budgeting, prop and set design, the list goes on and on! *Footnote: I personally soon discovered at this point that A) I am not interested in any facet of producing a show, and B) I love stage managers.
The Ladies began having weekly meetings in the attic of my house in Syracuse (not as creepy as that actually sounds). We discussed business logistics and conceptual ideas for the new and improved version of our show. Meetings were hard with one of our cast members interning in Chicago, but that goodness for Skype!
We ended the fall semester confident. Ready to take on spring semester, whatever it would bring. Five of us would be studying in NYC at the University's "Ariel Tepper Semester," one of us working and earning money at home in Maryland, and our fearless stage manager still in Syracuse. Could we still rehearse? How much could we actually accomplish? What exactly would this next semester bring...?
(You see how I built that suspense? It's a tactic called a "cliff hanger" to keep you coming back for more!)
After initially working on ‘The Tempest,’ the cast as a whole felt overwhelmingly fulfilled. We had set out to accomplish the impossible. Outside forces tried to stop us, our inner voices grew weak and weary, but we pulled through and made it happen. What an achievement.
But this feeling was so good and exciting, that none of us wanted it to end. How could we sustain this energy? Like a drug, we had tasted the sweet elixir that is ‘creation,’ and desperately sought for more. In my own personal attempt to flee the country of America once again, I spoke the words that were secretly being whispered by everyone’s heart: Let’s try to take our show to the Fringe Festival in Scotland. Wheels began turning and ideas poured out.
The Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) at Syracuse had recently visited our theater department, discussing her willingness and dedication to supporting and helping young actors in any of our passionate endeavors. We all immediately thought of this and began working on an email, proposing a meeting to discuss our passionate endeavor. After spending three years at Syracuse University, we felt confident that the "powers-that-be" would be more than willing to help us out in any way possible, even if that meant just listening to our proposal.
Dean Clarke responded promptly and the next thing we knew all six of us, including supportive faculty member Timothy Davis-Reed, were meeting in her office. She loved the idea. We all took notes, discussed the grants we would need to apply for, exchanged emails and left with very high hopes that over the summer break, Dean Clarke would be able to find room for our project in the year’s budget. Some ideas that were discussed included filming a documentary, or a “how-to," on taking a show to the Fringe; allowing future students to use it as a resource for their own passionate endeavors. Some other ideas were to try and involve VPA departments other than Drama; such as Communications and Rhetorical Studies and Art and Design for all of our advertising needs, and set/prop necessities. This would open lines of communication within VPA and potentially create new, working relationships. We solidified these ideas with our Stage Manager, Chelsea Jennings, and then put our project to bed. We would have to wait until the fall to find out if our proposal was actually possible and worth pursuing.
Fast forward to the Fall of 2009: Back at school, we email Dean Clarke to see if we can meet again to discuss the progress of our potential project. We eventually meet and after solidifying details of the project, Dean Clarke and her faithful assistant Katy Foley give us the go ahead to pursue the means by which we could gain funding for our project.
Success! The six of us, seven of us including our incredible stage manager, meet and pull a proposal together (mostly our stage manager – she is remarkable). We submit it and over Thanksgiving break are granted the money from the Co-Curricular Fund. We now are officially taking a Syracuse University supported show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August of 2010.
Logistically, there was an incredible amount of work that now needed to be done. Applying to the Fringe, finding a theater, requesting that theater, being granted that theater, travel dates, rehearsal dates and space, advertising, production costs and budgeting, prop and set design, the list goes on and on! *Footnote: I personally soon discovered at this point that A) I am not interested in any facet of producing a show, and B) I love stage managers.
The Ladies began having weekly meetings in the attic of my house in Syracuse (not as creepy as that actually sounds). We discussed business logistics and conceptual ideas for the new and improved version of our show. Meetings were hard with one of our cast members interning in Chicago, but that goodness for Skype!
We ended the fall semester confident. Ready to take on spring semester, whatever it would bring. Five of us would be studying in NYC at the University's "Ariel Tepper Semester," one of us working and earning money at home in Maryland, and our fearless stage manager still in Syracuse. Could we still rehearse? How much could we actually accomplish? What exactly would this next semester bring...?
(You see how I built that suspense? It's a tactic called a "cliff hanger" to keep you coming back for more!)
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